Second Chances
by tiramisuspice
Summary: If you were given the chance to right a wrong from the past, would you take it?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So verdict: went to the doctor and found out I have a mild form of pneumonia. I'm okay though :) I won't let this sickness take control of my life or keep me from enjoying my favourite pasttime! (But of course, I am taking care of myself and drinking plenty of fluids and whatnot lol)  
**

 **But… the visit birthed this random idea, and I decided to write this midlength Lucaya AU story. An experiment and challenge to myself to limit my vulgarity to bare min ahaha. I don't care how many in progress stories I have anymore lol. I've gotten past the point of caring. These new story ideas won't quit and I'm not going to keep myself from writing them just because I have a ton of other stories to work on. I'm going to take the bull by its horns and challenge myself to finish at least four stories by the end of 2015! (Do you guys think I can do it? Be honest ahahah!)  
**

 **Is this angst? IDK maybe. Is this drama? Not really. I don't really know. (Fluff? I don't want to accidentally mislead you guys again ahaha so lets just say no?).  
**

 **Rated Low T/K+ for Kept Secrets  
**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Girl Meets World, but… eh I got nothing…**

* * *

"Bye Miss Hart!"

"Whoa!" Maya laughed when she was almost bulldozed over by the little boy. She waved goodbye as he ran through the hallway to catch the late bus after school. "Bye Randy. Don't forget to practice those multiplication tables!"

"I will!" he called back over his shoulder before disappearing around the corner.

Maya yawned a bit tiredly and turned around, stretching out the kinks in her neck muscles as she headed to the teacher's lounge. She rucked her bag higher on her shoulder and made her way through the hallways, seriously chastising her decision to wear her nice stilettos that day when she was exhausted.

Maya loved her heels, but on particularly fatigued days, it was never a good idea to indulge in her preference. Not only was she clumsier than usual because she was a little tired, but they also pinched her toes and left her aching by the end of the evening. But it wasn't like she really had a choice. She was going somewhere that kind of required her to dress a little fancier than her typical slacks and comfy heeled boots.

Maya rounded the corner and entered the lounge. She made her general rounds, checking the memo wall and the announcements for teachers on the corkboard to ensure she didn't miss anything important or any information about planning days and meetings. Then she slipped her beige trench coat off of the coat hanger near the door and slipped it on her body.

"Maya…" Riley groaned from behind her.

Maya turned and walked over to her friend lounging on the couch in front of the TV, a sympathetic look on her face. She was lying on her side, her face scrunched in discomfort as she rubbed her large, swollen abdomen.

"Rough day, honey?" Maya asked as she stooped in front of her.

"I'll say." Riley said, looking like she was one hundred percent done with the day, "I love my little kindergarten babies, but taking care of all those hyper kids while trying not to throw up is really taking its toll on me. And it's a cesspool for germs. I got sneezed on twice."

"Aww poor baby…" Maya curled a strand of Riley's hair behind her ear. "Well where's Charlie to take you back home?"

"Said he was busy…"

"Again?"

"…We've been having problems, Maya. He said he didn't mind helping me raise my child, but I can't help but feel like he's putting distance between us because of it." Riley sighed, her voice sounding just a bit nasally. "When I wasn't showing, I think it was easier for him to accept our relationship and the fact that I was pregnant, but now I think it's putting a rift between us. He hasn't asked me to move in with him yet or anything either and when I do sleep over at his place, he always takes the couch."

"Maybe he's just freaked out. Raising a child is a big commitment. I can only imagine what the idea of raising a child that isn't even his is doing to his mind."

Riley nodded, though she sighed dejectedly.

"I was just hoping that this relationship would work out. I really like Charlie. And after everything that happened with…" She tapered off, suddenly staring at the fridge forlornly. "Maya, I need some peanut butter and celery."

Maya stood up with a chuckle at Riley's absentmindedness and took the celery sticks out of the fridge and Riley's customary jar of peanut butter from the cupboards before handing them to her usually chipper best friend. Riley's eyes lit up as she slowly dragged herself to a sitting position, her wide, unassuming smile finally back on her face.

"Ooooh yes! Gimme!" she said, reaching out and looking like Christmas had come early when Maya put the goodies in her hand.

"Are you going to be okay by yourself? I'm going to an art gallery with Missy and this new hipster guy she's apparently decided to try dating, and you know how she gets when any of us are late to meet with her."

"Yeah. I recall precisely how prissy Miss Missy can get." Riley giggled, unzipping the Ziploc bag of celery eagerly. "But don't worry about little old me. Izzy is picking me up. She said she's dropping off something at Farkle's place, but she should be here soon."

"Alright, Riles. Text me if you need anything."

Riley nodded, moaning in appreciation after crunching down on a peanut butter covered celery stick. As Maya left, she waved goodbye to another colleague grading a test at the table before heading out.

Maya hurried on her way towards the front the school. She still had a subway to take to get to the gallery and based off of the time, she wasn't sure she was going to get there with minutes to spare. Plus there was the fact that it was raining cats and dogs and catching a taxi to a station was bound to be difficult.

As she walked out, her eyes drifted to a sole person sitting on one of the benches in front of the school, kicking her little legs back and forth as she stared out at the pouring rain. Maya's brows furrowed as she realized it was Anna, one of the little girls in her second grade class. Maya had assumed when Anna ran out of the classroom that she had left. It was just about four o'clock now. Even the aftercare vans had long left and after school clubs had started a while ago. Why was she still there?

Maya walked over to her, sitting on the bench beside her in concern.

"You're still here, Anna Banana?"

The little blue eyed girl looked at her with a shrug.

"Yeah…" she muttered, averting her gaze back to the sidewalk.

Anna was usually always talking loudly or disrupting class for one reason or another, so seeing her that quiet was a bit strange for Maya. She was a little rowdy, and Maya wasn't used to seeing her so demure.

"Who's supposed to be picking you up today?"

She shrugged again. "I thought my daddy was."

"Do you know where he is?"

"No… But he told me this morning that he would pick me up at three."

Maya sighed, realizing that she didn't have her address book with her to contact Anna's emergency contact. The main office was already closed, and Maya couldn't go around searching for the number while tugging around the girl. Besides, Anna was most likely tired if she'd been sitting outside for an hour, and Maya didn't doubt that she wouldn't appreciate being lugged around everywhere to find a phone number when it wasn't even a guarantee.

A car pulled up in the pick-up lane next to the curb and two students ran out of the building towards it, squealing and laughing when the rain pelted them as they left the safety of the roof of the school. They scurried inside it and then the car drove off. Once again, Maya and Anna were left in silence.

"Does this happen a lot, Anna?" Maya asked, wondering how many times this had to have happened for Anna to seem so blasé about the whole thing. So used to it as if it was a regular occurrence. Except for Wednesdays, Maya usually had art club after school each day, so she'd never actually noticed which students went home and when. Today was an exception because she had to leave earlier. How long had this thing been going on for Anna? "Does your father usually forget to pick you up at times he promises?"

She nodded. "He's always working."

Maya stared at the girl, realizing she was suddenly hearing something entirely too familiar. Something bitter. The taste of several broken promises.

"I see." Maya said, "Well from now on, if this happens again and your dad doesn't show up when he's supposed to, I want you to come back to my classroom and wait with me, okay? No more waiting outside."

"Okay…"

Maya could sense the slight dejection from Anna, and she knew she had to redirect the conversation away from late fathers.

"So, I know we've been in school two months, but how is second grade for you? Are you enjoying it?"

Anna grinned, the wide, happy smile an absolute relief to Maya.

"Yeah! I made a new friend today!"

"Oh yeah?" Maya said, "What's her name?"

"Her name is Amber. She's in Mrs. Vernon's classroom down the hall, but we were the only two second graders picked to play kickball with the third graders at recess and since our names both start with A's we decided to be friends!"

"That's great." Maya chuckled. "But how did two second graders manage to convince the third graders to let them play?"

"It was so gross! We had to lick the basketball pole to show we weren't chicken enough to play. Amber and I were the only ones who did it."

The things kids did…

"Well how did it taste? Did it taste like chicken?" Maya asked playfully.

"No! It didn't taste like chicken, Miss Hart!" Anna erupted in giggles. "That's silly."

"Well how about ice cream then?" Maya said, "Did it taste like ice cream?"

" _Anastasia_!"

When they heard her name, both of them looked up in the distance where a stout old woman was slowly making her way across the street, nearly swallowed whole by her large umbrella. Maya had never seen her before.

"Do you know her, Anna?" Maya asked.

"That's my babysitter, Mrs. Coleman." Anna muttered, looking annoyed, "She's a mean old fart who won't call me Anna and won't leave me alone when I get my clothes dirty and always makes me eat my broccoli. I _hate_ broccoli."

Maya laughed. "You know, I don't really like broccoli either, but we have to eat it to stay healthy."

Anna gasped softly. "But you're a _teacher_. Teachers like _everything_."

"Well now you know that's not true." Maya laughed again, gently tapping Anna on the nose. "I'm a teacher. But I don't like broccoli. Wait here for a moment."

As Mrs. Coleman came up under the flat roof of the front of the school, Maya rose to her feet and walked over to meet her, her hand outstretched.

"Hi, Maya Hart. I'm Anna's teacher." She shook her hand with a smile. "You're here to pick her up?"

Mrs. Coleman nodded, looking a little out of breath. "Yes. Her father had something come up at work and forgot he was supposed to pick her up. He called me short notice, and that's why I wasn't able to come on time."

Maya's eyes narrowed. "What kind of father just _forgets_ to pick up his daughter?"

"Mr. Friar is a very busy man."

"Too busy to take care of Anna? What about her mom?"

"I don't know the circumstances with that—I've never been told—but I've never seen a Mrs. Friar at their home."

So Anna had half a dad and an absent mother. It really _did_ sound way too familiar to Maya.

"I see… Alright. Well I'll let you guys go on your way." Maya turned to Anna with a smile. "Anna, you have a good evening, okay? Make sure you eat that broccoli."

"Okay." Anna hopped off the bench and pulled the straps of her backpack on her shoulders. "Bye Miss Hart."

"See you tomorrow, Anna Banana. Don't forget to study your multiplication tables."

Anna walked to Mrs. Coleman and took her hand, her face turning into a pout as the old lady scolded her for having tears in her jeans on her knees. Maya watched them leave, feeling a little odd about the situation. Maya knew how hard it was to live in a single parent household sometimes. Especially when one was young and the parent in question was relatively absent.

She only hoped Anna wasn't already starting to develop beliefs that she didn't deserve good things. Maya knew she'd had those thoughts early on in her life, and it was rather unpleasant.

Lost in thought, she didn't realize her phone was blowing up her bag until she finally paid attention and heard her ringtone. She opened it and realized Missy was calling her.

Maya was late.

By a lot.

"Crap!"

She took off as fast as she could, hoping desperately that Missy would be lenient this time around.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I'm publishing chapter two with chapter one all at once because they're both preliminary chapters that kind of go together in a sense. This story will unfold more slowly though. It'll start small and then build. (Also spelling is not my strongest suit, so sorry if I've made any grave errors in this story or in any others lol)**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Girl Meets World, but… eh I got nothing…**

* * *

For the rest of the week, Maya kept a closer eye on Anna to see how she was doing. Maya hadn't really noticed anything in her behaviour since school started that could particularly be labeled as _sad_ , but then again, Maya hadn't known about Anna's home life before. Plus she hadn't been seeking out signs of a possible childhood depression. Now that she knew what to look for, she was a little more careful in her scrutiny.

But for the most part, the girl seemed just fine, still playing with her friends without a hitch and still speaking without turn and making too much noise sometimes. Overall, she didn't seem to have anything bugging her or lingering in her mind. She was just as cheerful as she normally always was.

And that was a sheer relief to Maya.

But she would still make sure to keep up with her situation and make sure she was okay.

Maya also made sure that Anna had her method to get home taken care of _before_ she left the class and thankfully Mrs. Coleman picked her up on time so she didn't have to wait for a while after school.

"Almost done, Maya?" Tina Vernon asked her as she stood up from the faculty work room table.

"Almost." Maya said in relief, "One more progress report. I really should stop putting these off until the last minute."

"Well we're all busy people. Procrastination is in our nature." Tina said with a smile as she filed her progress reports and dropped them in the grade bins at the end of the table. "Call me sometime. We need to go get a drink to destress."

"Definitely agree." Maya laughed. "And I'll do just that."

"I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah. See ya."

Maya continued to put the finishing touches to the comments on her last student's progress report. She didn't understand why the school insisted on handwritten reports for "authenticity". It was time consuming and cramp inducing and in this bustling and busy day and age where a computer could do a job much faster, it was such a huge inconvenience for Maya and her fellow teachers.

Riley was lucky. Since she taught kindergarten, she didn't have that requirement to write reports unless the kid was really problematic. But Maya supposed she should be glad that she wasn't a fifth or fourth grade teacher. She'd heard complaints of the neverending hours that had to be put in to finish _those_ reports up because they were ten thousand times more nuanced than ones for early elementary school.

When she finally put the last period on the comment, she stood up with a loud yawn, cracking her stiff joints from sitting in the same position for so long. She filed her stack of reports in her class' folder and then tossed it in the second grade bin so they could be mailed to the students' homes. Maya couldn't even contain the happy sigh of relief that she was finally done with that and was free to go home.

Maya left the faculty work room, smiling sympathetically at some of the other teachers who were still trudging through their own. She walked through the hall slowly back to her classroom intending to just gather her stuff, lock her room and head straight home for a relaxing bubble bath with champagne and then sleep. She wasn't necessarily feeling under the weather, but she wasn't exactly in perfect health either.

She suspected maybe it was just because she hadn't gotten much sleep lately, her mind weighed down by so many thoughts, but no more. Tonight she wouldn't let anything stop her from relaxing and settling under her covers and enjoying herself a well-deserved sleep after a long afternoon working.

As she entered her classroom, she was surprised to see a tall man in casual business attire standing in the room staring at the 'Who Am I' portraits on the back wall near the computer area. His back was facing her and she couldn't see his expression, but he seemed a little lost in thought, seeing as how he didn't seem to hear her when she entered the room.

"…Can I help you?" she asked suspiciously.

He turned around to face her and then seemed to stiffen the slightest bit as he stared at her. He looked a little shell shocked, his expression definitely surprised though Maya didn't know why he would.

Maya rose a brow at him, bristling slightly, a bit unnerved by his sea-foam gaze on her. She didn't recognize him at all and was _sure_ she'd never seen him before. She would have remembered meeting someone that attractive.

"Are you Maya Hart, by any chance?" he finally asked after seeming to snap out of his odd little moment.

"Yes, that's me."

"Hi. I'm Lucas Friar." He approached her, his hand outstretched, though his mouth was set in something of a grim line. "Anna's father."

Maya blinked in total surprise as she shook his hand.

"Oh. _You're_ Mr. Friar."

The forgetful, half a dad himself. It was quite the surprise. She never expected him to show up. Hell, she never thought she would ever _meet_ the elusive father.

"I was starting to think you didn't actually exist." Maya said, "You know your daughter left with Mrs. Coleman today. Was she not supposed to?"

"No, she was." He responded as he rolled up the sleeves of his dress shirt on his forearm. "Do you have a moment? I have something I need to discuss with you. It shouldn't take too long."

Maya was a little taken aback by the abrupt nature of his response. Clearly he wasn't in a very good mood for whatever reason. She wasn't sensing any particularly friendly vibes from him.

"Uh, sure…" She gestured to the round reading table and pulled out a chair, sitting down in it. "Have a seat."

He settled himself in one of the chairs as well. He looked a little uncomfortable, but she figured it was because the chairs were meant for children and he had fairly long legs.

"What did you want to discuss, Mr. Friar?" Maya asked, a little annoyed that her plans for quickly returning home had been foiled by the impromptu appearance of Anna's father.

"I'm a little concerned about Anna being in this class."

"…How so? Anna is doing very well in this class, if you're wondering about her work. She makes good marks and understands the lessons very well. Her homework reflects that understanding too."

As far as Maya was concerned, she didn't think Anna was having any issues in her class that merited her father coming to speak with her.

"Anna isn't the issue here." Lucas responded, steadily holding her gaze, "You are."

She searched his eyes silently for a moment in bewilderment, trying to figure out if he was joking about that or not. But he looked pretty serious.

"Is that so?" Maya rose a brow, cocking her head to the side curiously. " _I'm_ the issue. Explain please."

"Mrs. Coleman has been informing me of what Anna has to complete for homework each night. To be honest, I'm a little skeptical about your teaching methods, Ms. Hart. I don't understand why my daughter keeps coming home with assignments to write a paragraph about a drawing or painting twice a week." He crossed his arms in front of his chest. "What does that have to do with the general curriculum in a second grade class? I thought it was going to be a onetime thing, but it's been almost two months into the school year and those ridiculous assignments have continued."

And Maya's eyes narrowed in annoyance. It was one thing for him to have reservations about her curriculum, but to dismiss it as ridiculous? She didn't even know him, but she was already starting to see that he was a jerk. He wasn't doing very well racking up points in her impression of him as a father. She _already_ saw him as a neglecting parent, and now he had the nerve to attack her lesson plan as if he knew what he was talking about?

The nerve!

" _Ridiculous_?" Maya scoffed incredulously, staring at him like he had lost his mind. "Excuse me, but what?"

"I would rather my daughter spend more time on homework that matters. Things that _will_ contribute to a future." Lucas clarified almost snidely. Maya definitely detected a hint of condescension in his tone. "Interpreting art won't contribute to a future."

Maya was sure that she was absolutely slack jawed by now, doing a double take in shock. Who the hell did he think he was showing up to her classroom out of the blue and then attacking her teaching methods as if he knew a damn thing?

But she knew it wouldn't do to lose her temper and go off on him no matter how much she wanted to punch him in the face.

"Mr. Friar." Maya glared at him, speaking slowly through grit teeth. "What do you do for a living?"

"I'm a vet."

"A very noble occupation. You heal beloved sick pets and operate on torn ligaments and limbs and diminish the pain of the animals, right?"

"…Yes?" He was looking a little confused.

"Right." Maya said sharply, "So how about you stick to _your_ job and what _you're_ good at. And I'll stick to _mine_ and what _I'm_ good at. I assign those interpretations of art because they are important in my class, and I would very much appreciate it if you didn't criticize that decision from whatever deranged conclusions you've determined on your own when you don't even know my motivations."

"I wasn't aware you were teaching an _art_ class." His eyes narrowed. "How are the students supposed to develop reading comprehension skills and basic conceptual understandings of math and science if their homework doesn't engage those processes?"

"First of all, I assign all types of homework regularly to engage _all_ aspects of the students' learning processes. Get your facts straight." Maya snapped, fighting the urge to wring her hands around his stupid neck.

This guy was pissing her off so much. How in the world was it that he had such a sweet daughter, yet he himself was such a butthead?

"And second, I'm trying to teach the children to think outside of the box and consider many interpretations other than what is shown to them at face value. To show them that there are many ways to see things and that sometimes there isn't one clear cut answer or one answer period. Viewing many different perspectives and keeping an open mind is a hidden curriculum that must be taught from an early age, Mr. Friar. Now, if you'll excuse me, I would appreciate it if you didn't question my leadership, because I am way more qualified than you to teach a second grade class. And if you think otherwise, then by all means, do my job for me. And you're going to look really ridiculous because I sure as hell know you don't know what you're talking about and you look like a real asshole stopping by _my_ classroom and keeping me from going home with that crap you're spewing."

He was silent for quite a while, his brows raised in shock at her sudden outburst.

"Despite how unconventional my teaching methods might seem, there's a purpose, I have a lesson plan, and I know exactly what I'm doing, Mr. Friar. Otherwise don't you think I would have been fired by now?" Maya said, feeling insanely better from the stupefied look on his face as he stared at her.

"I didn't realize…"

"Of course you didn't." Maya rolled her eyes. "No doubt you're not the analytical type. You know, I think you should do these assignments with Anna. You'd be surprised by the many different interesting perceptions of the pieces you can develop. Plus it might be a way to help you get out of this bullheaded mindset you seem to have about what constitutes a proper classroom."

He contemplated her with a slight quirked brow, looking a little intrigued. No doubt he had expected her to be some demure, soft-spoken young teacher who would cower under his presence. It wasn't like he had a very commanding presence in and of itself, but he seemed like the type who probably was used to things going his way. How on earth did he develop that kind of stubborn mindset though? He honestly looked fairly young, and Maya suspected he probably wasn't much older than her.

"You're right." He finally admitted, "I think I might have jumped to conclusions too quickly. I'm sorry."

Well that was surprising.

She hadn't expected an apology. He seemed like the kind of person who had a lot of pride in himself.

"I appreciate the apology." Maya said, "But listen, Mr. Friar. While we're here can we discuss your parenting?"

"My parenting?" Lucas said a little defensively, "Didn't we just get into some type of argument about overstepping particular 'job' boundaries on experience? Are you a mother, Ms. Hart?"

"This is something you need to hear." Maya continued, ignoring his little jab. "You need to take a more proactive stance in your daughter's life. I'm not trying to tell you how to raise your daughter, but Anna is a lovely and very smart girl. She's sweet, she's caring, she's hopeful and optimistic, but that only lasts so long before the jadedness kicks in. Before the self-worth issues kick in. Before the lack of hope starts to grow."

Maya sighed as he regarded her impassively.

"Look, you may not think what I'm saying is credible, but I've been there. I grew up with my mother rarely taking care of me because she had to work. And even though I'd like to say I turned out fine, I still resent the way I grew up to this day. There are lasting effects. I know you're a busy man, but for the sake of that amazing little girl, please try harder to be a full time dad. It's your responsibility. Just because you assume the paternal position in her life doesn't automatically make you a father. You have to put in some effort. Let me show you something."

Maya stood up from her chair, walking over to her file cabinet on the other side of the room near the reading corner with the bookshelf and rug. She unlocked it and opened the second one, rummaging through the letters for last names until she stopped at F. Maya pulled the small blue book with 'Anastasia Sophia Friar' written in sharpie on the cover from the file and made her way back over to Lucas.

"The kids keep a journal in my class. Twice a week for about ten to fifteen minutes I give them a prompt and they write short essays. It's just a way of building writing skills as well as a way for me to learn more about my students." Maya said as she sat down, flipping through pages of the journal to find what she was looking for. "I asked them to write an essay about any person who inspires them yesterday. And Anna wrote about you."

Lucas' brows rose a bit in surprise as Maya skimmed the page.

"She said she loved how you take care of animals, how you love to take care of everybody you know because you're caring. How you're too busy to take care of her though but that it's okay because she knows you have to help everyone else, and she shouldn't be selfish. Then she said she wished you would take care of yourself because you seem sad sometimes. It's obvious that she loves you with all her heart." Maya shook her head in slight disdain. "But what kind of daughter is neglected so often that she convinces herself that it's fine that her father can't spend more time with her because if he did she would be a selfish person? That's a terrible mindset to have at such a young age. She idolizes you and can't see fault with you because you're her hero, so she's directed the blame on herself. You need to fix this before her essays start to end in tears and 'my daddy doesn't love me and it's all my fault'. And there's more alarming stuff in this essay. Read it."

Maya handed him Anna's journal and waited patiently as he read the words on the page, his brows slightly furrowed. His eyes ran over the page as he silently read, and Maya watched his expression grow more pained, a little more appalled, the disbelief in his eyes being the most prominent.

When he was done reading it, he set in down on the table slowly.

"…This is what she's been thinking all this time?" he muttered softly.

Maya shrugged. "It's shocking, isn't it? You never know what thoughts your children develop as they grow."

"All this time I spent working. I didn't even realize…" Lucas sighed, closing his eyes momentarily and running his hand through his hair tiredly. "What can I do to fix this?"

"Do you cherish your daughter, Mr. Friar?"

"I do." he responded seriously, meeting Maya's gaze, "I love her with all my heart. She's the most important person in my life."

"Good. Start there. It's not the end of the world and you still have plenty of time to mend things. Start by showing Anna how much you love her." Maya smiled. "Little things count. Drop her off at school. Pick her up. Stop _forgetting_ about her. Spend more time with her. Learn about who she is. Start being her _father_ again. She will notice the difference, trust me. I understand you're busy, but you should never be too busy to take care of your child. Especially if you're her only parent. You have to give her _two_ parents' worth of love. Not half the love from one."

He stared at her for a moment, slight astonishment in his eyes before he finally nodded slowly.

"You're right. I have to do better for her."

"I'm glad you understand." Maya stood up, assuming the meeting was just about done, because honestly, she really wanted to start getting home. Lucas followed suit. "I really hope to see some improvements in your relationship with your daughter, Mr. Friar."

"I'll do my best." He shook her hand. "Thank you for the wakeup call."

"No problem." Maya smiled, "Have a nice evening."

"You too." Lucas said as he made his way to the door, "Have a good evening, Ms. Hart."

After he left the room, she picked up the discarded journal and went about putting it up and locking her file cabinet. Maya sighed in relief, glad that she had been able to influence Lucas to try to change the situation.

Maybe she was too close to the situation because of her own experience and maybe she had been poking her nose where it didn't belong, but she couldn't help it. She never wanted anyone growing up as she had.

Maya could very vividly remember spending long mornings, afternoons, and evenings in her mother's empty apartment with her Gammy teaching herself how to live on her own because eventually, Maya learned her mother had to prioritize work over her. And once her grandmother passed, and she was truly alone… Well… It was a lonely experience that shaped who Maya became.

Frightened, unsure, jaded.

Hopeless.

It was the reason why she'd made such a grave mistake.

Maya shook her head, pushing away the dangerous thoughts her mind was veering towards. She sighed and gathered up her stuff into her bag.

Maya locked her room and left for the evening, her shoulders slumped.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I think I want to try to finish this story before 2016 as well. Wrote this chapter out in fairly quickly while on break from studying.**

 **(Also, this winky face ;3 is for a specific someone. You know who you are lol)  
**

 **Thank you for the support to the preliminary chapters guys! I'm glad you enjoyed it! I hope the rest of the story is definitely enjoyable for you! As long as you guys are happy, I'm happy too :D**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Girl Meets World, but… eh I got nothing…**

* * *

"Miss Hart?" Anna said, poking her head in the classroom door, "My daddy's late again."

Maya stood up from her crouch in the back where she was cleaning up the toy bin. One of her poor sick students had vomited after lunch time and Maya hadn't had a chance to properly sanitize it after wiping away what had been left behind by the boy. Maya had had to leave her classroom in the hands of one of the first grade teacher's assistants who thankfully had been in the hallway so that Maya could take Daniel to the nurse's office.

"Alright." Maya said, gesturing to the arts and crafts boxes on one of the tables, "I don't have art club today. Feel free to use any of that stuff you want. I just have to finish cleaning this up and then I'll see if we can find you something fun to do."

"Okay!"

Anna skipped over the table and plopped in her favourite green chair, pulling out a pack of coloured pencils from the box. Maya watched her for a moment, making sure she was situated and settled in her activity before she continued to finish wiping down the toy bin.

It had been a little while since Maya's impromptu meeting with Anna's father, and she was happy to see that there were definite improvements. Though he was often late to pick her up and although he couldn't always pick her up or drop her off, Maya could tell Lucas was still making efforts to better take care of his daughter and that was what Maya knew was important and counted. As long as he took the time to really make sure Anna felt cherished and loved, that was important.

Anna herself seemed over the moon happy about it. Maya could tell the girl was really fond of her father. During playtime or show and tell, Anna's usual choice of conversation with her friends or for a presentation was about Lucas and how he would take her to the park to practice her catching or how he helped her paint her bedroom a new colour or when they tried to make smoothies and he forgot the lid of the top of the blender and they had a race to see who could clean up the fastest. At last week's show and tell, Anna had brought her father's stethoscope and talked about the puppy she got to play with who Lucas had been taking care of at their home.

It truly brought a smile to Maya's lips. The bond between parent and child was a crucial one, and she was definitely pleased to see that Lucas had taken her advice and was spending more time with his daughter.

Maya closed the toy bin with a relieved sigh when she was finally done sanitizing the entire surface, wiping her brow before tossing the used napkins in the big garbage bag beside her. She rose to her feet, her back and knees cracking wonderfully as she straightened. She tied up the top of the garbage bag before lugging it next to her trash bin at the front. Maya glanced around her classroom, making sure everything was fairly in place for the next day. There hadn't been much disorder that day because after the little vomit spiel, she'd sent the kids outside with another second grade class so she could clean the contaminated area. So the remainder of the free time was spent outside of the classroom, thus diminishing Maya's overall cleanup at the end of the day.

Rolling her shoulder to loosen up a kink, Maya made her way over to Anna's table where the small girl was humming to herself, kicking her legs back and forth as she gripped a green coloured pencil, scribbling on the paper in front of her.

"That's a nice green dog." Maya said in amusement as she looked over Anna's shoulder.

"It's Minnie." Anna said, taking the purple and adding polka dots to the fur.

"Who's Minnie?"

"She's my future dog. She's just like the golden retriever puppy my daddy is taking care of only she's going to be the colours of the rainbow. I really want a puppy so bad, but Daddy says I can't get one until I'm twelve. That's such a long way away though!"

Maya smiled to herself. The age old trick. Parents told their kids they could have something at some obscure much older age, expecting the children to forget about it by then since by that point they would most likely develop other interests or understand more what was involved in the request and lose interest.

"Well at least until then, if you keep drawing your dog, your dad will know exactly what kind of dog you want in the future."

Anna nodded. "But I'm trying to save up so I can buy my own. I'm going to do a lemonade stand and sell it and then I'll make enough money to buy Minnie and Daddy can't say no."

Maya chuckled softly, but didn't respond, unsure what to say in answer to the girl's belief. Maya glanced at another drawing Anna seemed to have left unfinished. It looked like a flower store from what she was seeing. There was an assortment of colourful flowers in the front of a door and window. But it seemed like she had stopped halfway through the drawing of the actual building. Most of it all looked fairly 3D in a sense—well at least a child's version of 3D—save for the building, which looked kind of like an odd square. But it was rather impressive.

"Do you like to draw, Anna?" Maya asked, intrigued.

Anna grinned toothily up at her and nodded emphatically, her dirty blonde curls bouncing around her face.

"I do! I love to draw! It's so much fun!"

"Yeah?" Maya pulled out the chair beside her and sat in it, her chin resting on her palm. "I didn't know that. What are your favourite things to draw?"

"Well… I like to draw dogs. And cats and hamsters. They're the easiest!" Anna tapped her chin in thought. "I want to draw the night sky with the stars like I used to see in Texas but there are so many stars."

"What about buildings?" Maya asked, pointing to the drawing Anna had discarded.

"I want to draw them too… But they're so hard!" She whined, her lips poking out in a slight annoyed pout. "Every time I draw them, they don't look real."

"They're not too hard. Here let me show you." Maya smiled, taking a pencil out of the art box and pulling a sheet of white paper from the pack before setting it on the table. Anna scooted her chair closer, leaning into Maya to see what she was doing. "Have you ever heard of perspectives in art?"

"Prefectives?" Anna asked in confusion, "What's that?"

"Perspectives." Maya chuckled. "It's when you draw something from a different angle or side."

"I don't get it."

"Let me show you." Maya set one of her giant 'Oops' erasers upright on the table, turning it so that the letters were facing Anna directly. "Do you see the letters on the eraser?"

Anna nodded, her rapt attention on the eraser.

"See how the letters are facing us from the front? You're seeing it from the front. You're seeing it from one perspective. But if we turn it like this…" Maya rotated it at an angle. "The letters look slightly different because you're seeing it from a different side, right? In this case, the letters farthest from you look a little smaller and squished, don't they? You see something different because it's a different perspective."

"Oh I get it now!"

"Right. So when you look at a building from the front, it looks like this." Maya roughly sketched out the front of her apartment complex. "But if you look at it from a specific side or perspective…"

Maya drew it from an angle, mentally drawing out her perspective lines before drawing the building through basically muscle memory. She'd gone through the process so many times, she basically no longer had to look or think about it.

"See? What I just drew here is called two point perspective. And you can even put other buildings next to it. If something is closer to you, you make it bigger. If something is farther away, you make it smaller."

Maya quickly sketched in the rest of her block, filling in the sketch with a couple other random things like cars and trees on the sidewalk. And just for fun, she penciled in a miniature pregnant Riley who was supposed to be on a jog but stopped at a hotdog cart for a quick bite to eat.

"Wow!" Anna gasped in shock, her blue eyes wide. "This is _so_ cool! It looks like I'm really standing there! How do you do that?"

"It's really simple. You can learn it too."

"Can you teach me?"

"Of course I can, Anna Banana."

"You're such a good artist!"

"Thank you, sweetie. You are too."

"How come you're not an artist, Miss Hart?"

Because it was a dream lost. Because Maya had never had the courage to try to strive for that dream and before she knew it, she had yet another regret tacked on to her already long, pathetic list. All her life, she'd only ever been someone who couldn't ever accomplish anything.

She was Maya Hart afterall.

Good things never happened for her because she'd never been destined for anything great.

She never would be more than that scared girl who hid her fear behind her bravado and made mistake after mistake after damn mistake.

Maya smiled warmly, tucking one of Anna's loose coils behind her ear.

"I'm not an artist because if I was, I wouldn't get to be you guys' second grade teacher."

"I guess that makes sense." Anna stared at the paper. "Hey Miss Hart? Can I keep the drawing? I really like it. I want to try the prespectors at home."

"Of course you can." Maya laughed.

There was a knock on Maya's room door after that and they both turned around. Lucas was standing at the door, looking just a little out of breath, his tie crooked and looking like it had been hastily loosened.

"Daddy!" Anna exclaimed, hopping out of the chair and running over to him with her arms outstretched.

"Hey Sugar Plum."

Lucas stooped and caught her just as she jumped, letting out a slight grunt as he hoisted her up and rested her on his hip. Anna giggled, wrapping her arms around his neck and resting her head on his shoulder. Maya smiled as she began the cleanup of the art supplies. It was a touching scene, parent and child.

"Did you forget to wear a jacket today?" Lucas asked Anna in concern, smoothing down her flyaway wild hairs.

"Yeah, but only because it wasn't cold in the morning." Anna lifted her head in excitement. "Can we get ice cream?!"

"I don't think so, Anna." Lucas rose a brow. "Mrs. Coleman told me you didn't eat your broccoli yesterday and tried to feed it to Callie."

Anna pouted. "But Daddy…"

"Tell you what, if you get an A on your next math test, we can get ice cream."

"Okay!"

Maya chuckled to herself before setting the box of art supplies back on its shelf and going to her desk to gather her keys and her bag. She stuffed her things in there before slipping on her jacket.

"Sorry for being so late to pick her up." Lucas said, addressing Maya, "We had an absence from an illness, so I had to take care of their patients too today. It took a little longer than I expected. Thanks again for watching her."

"No, it's fine." Maya locked her desk drawer before picking up the drawings from the table and Anna's bookbag from the floor and making her way over to the two. She handed them to Lucas with a smile. "I had a lot of fun with Anna. And I'm glad you're still picking her up. Late or not, you still showed up and that's what counts. I'm glad you've started prioritizing what is most important."

"Well, I do have you and your insults to thank for that." Lucas' lips were curved in a slightly amused smile as he slung Anna's bag onto his shoulder and then handed Anna the drawings when she eagerly reached for them.

"In my defense, you definitely deserved it." Maya pointed out, cutting off the lights in her room before walking out of the door with Lucas. "You attacked me first."

"I guess I did come off a little vicious. But attack's kind of a strong word, don't you think?"

Maya rose a brow, giving him a deadpan look as they slowly made their way toward the front of the school.

"You called me an issue."

"Okay fair enough. I might have slightly attacked you in some way." Lucas chuckled, "But in _my_ defense, I was only looking out for what's best for my daughter. But I do have to say, I'm pretty glad now that art is included. Anna is always telling me she loves it when you let them do arts and crafts in class. She has so many of them in her room."

"Well I'm glad you enjoy it so much, Anna Banana." Maya stated.

"They're really fun, Miss Hart."

"That's good to know." Maya turned to Lucas again. "Hey, I run an art club after school for students who want to understand art more or are interested in it. It's only open to students in the third grade and higher, but since you tend to finish work well after Anna is done with school and she seems to already have a pretty good grasp of art and its components for her age, I would love to have her be a part of it. That way, she won't have to wait forever for you to be done, and it's within the realm of her interests."

"Okay. How do you feel about that Anna?"

"Yeah! Can I daddy? Can I be in the art club? I want to learn prespectors with Miss Hart!"

"Of course you can."

"Yay!" Anna cheered.

Lucas gave Maya a confused look, no doubt wondering what Anna had meant by prespectors, and Maya laughed to herself, mouthing the word 'perspectives' to clarify. Lucas nodded in understanding, a smile also gracing his lips.

"Great. So I'll send her home with the permission form tomorrow for you to sign."

"Understood." Lucas said as they stopped in front of the teacher's lounge, "Thanks again for everything, Ms. Hart."

"Sure, no problem." Maya responded with a smile, "Have a good evening."

"You too."

He walked on out of the school, and Maya waved back to Anna when she lifted her head again and waved emphatically.

"Goodbye Miss Hart! See you tomorrow!" she shouted, her voice bouncing down the hallway with a slight echo.

"Goodbye, Anna Banana!"

After they turned the corner, Maya dropped her arm, making her way into the teacher's lounge. It was empty, most teachers likely having gone home for the day. Maya went through her final rounds. Checking her mailbox. Checking the announcements board. Checking the memo board. She took out her bottle of water from the fridge before sticking it in her bag.

Only then did Maya check her phone.

And just like the day before, there was nothing. No calls. No texts. No nothing.

Another disappointment.

Maya sighed dejectedly, dragging her feet as she left the teacher's lounge and made her way home, mentally ticking off another failed day in her mind.

Another day that went by without finding anything.

Another day that she lost a bit more hope that tomorrow would be different.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Yeah. Slow builds lol. And I do mean _slow._ But build it will, my loves! Urgh but writing cheesy and sweet and cute stuff without angst always makes me feel so strange lol. As for how I feel? Aside from residual coughing, I'm doing really well. And as far as I'm concerned, I don't believe I've failed any exams either, so that's always a plus!  
**

 **Anyway... it _begins._**

 **I appreciate you guys' sweet reviews! Thank you for always being so supportive and encouraging me. I honestly cannot thank you all enough for being the amazing people that you are! :D**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Girl Meets World, but… eh I got nothing…**

* * *

Maya pulled on an old hoodie and some leggings for her morning venture to the farmer's market for the fresh produce. Riley was pretty adamant in making sure that all of her friends were on this health kick _with_ her so that she wouldn't slip and start pigging out during her pregnancy. As much as Missy and Smackle couldn't stand it, they all decided to if only to appease Riley, because even though their bubbly friend was generally cheerful, her hormones were still haywire and they wanted to avoid upsetting her. She tended to turn almost rabid with anger when she wasn't happy.

Maya could still remember the fight Riley almost got into with a teenager at a coffee shop because she thought they had stolen her cinnamon roll. It turned out she had forgotten she had already eaten it.

Needless to say, it was not an experience any of them wanted to relive so they made sure that Riley was in good spirits.

Maya yawned as she unbraided her hair, letting the tousled waves tumble around her shoulders and down her back. She ran a hand through it, shaking it up and trying to straighten out some of the wave with her fingers. Normally, she would tie it up into a ponytail at night after her shampoo so it could stay fairly tame, but she had accidentally forgotten. It wasn't that she hated the way her hair naturally fell. It was just that the more she forgot to try to control it, the more wild it got by the day. It was an absolute hassle.

Dressed and ready to begin her day, Maya walked to the living room, surprised as she sniffed the air to realize that she smelled breakfast. And not just any breakfast.

Double chocolate pancakes with melted chocolate chips dunked in hot fudge and drizzled with caramel and dark chocolate sprinkles.

Riley's specialty.

Maya walked out into the living room and sure enough, hunched over the dining table, munching on the ultra-sweet treat was the pregnant brunette. Her nose was slightly red as her eyes met Maya's, and she sniffled, turning her attention back to the magazine she was reading.

"Morning." she said nonchalantly, as if it was normal for Maya to wake up to Riley's cavity inducing current obsession, "I made breakfast."

Maya walked to the kitchen and grabbed a banana from the fruit bowl, peeling it before taking a bite.

"Where? I don't see anything left."

Riley frowned. "I swear I made more than ten…"

" _Ten_? You ate at least ten of those things?" Maya did a double take in shock and slight disgust. It was hard to stomach even _one._ The amount of richness and chocolate in one bite of those things was enough to knock someone into hyperglycaemic shock and burn their tongue from how sweet it was. "Wow. You force us to be healthy, yet you are not making any efforts at all."

"Not now, Maya…" Riley muttered through a mouthful of pancake, "I need sweets. Lots of them."

Maya frowned suspiciously as she stared at Riley's hunched shoulders and distinct lack of perky rambling about something. She was reading a bridal magazine, and Riley only did that when she was particularly upset about something. And then there was the fact that she wasn't bouncing off the walls or exaggeratedly cheerful as was characteristic of her.

"What are you really doing here, Riley? Especially this early on a Saturday morning?"

"Nothing. I just want to go out with you and take a walk and spend time together, just the two of us. We haven't done that in a long time, and plus I need the exercise since I slacked all this week. You're pretty active, so I figured you could whip me back into shape."

"Sure I _could_ buy that…" Maya rose a brow, contemplatively chewing on her banana. "Except that you were supposed to spend the weekend with Charlie."

"And now I decided to spend the weekend with you." she responded, keeping her gaze firmly on the magazine.

"Riley, what did Charlie do? Tell me before I call Smackle and tell her Charlie hurt you, and she shows up at his doorstep with chloroform."

Riley's head snapped up in alarm. "Wait don't do that!"

"Tell me what happened."

"…We got in a fight." Riley mumbled, setting her fork on the plate and pushing away the last pancake. "Yesterday. I've been here since yesterday afternoon. You didn't know because you went out last night with some of your teacher friends and got home really late."

"Was it bad?" Maya asked sympathetically, sitting in the chair beside Riley.

"It was." Riley nodded, absentmindedly stroking her abdomen fondly. "He didn't want to come to my appointment yesterday so I told him if he was going to be the father of my child, he had to learn to accept the fact that I was already pregnant before I even met him and that I'm having someone else's child. I wanted him to know that even though it isn't his kid, it doesn't mean I love him any less. But it didn't come out quite the way I wanted it to."

Maya winced. "Ouch. That sounds really bad."

"It was. I pushed him too far, Maya." Riley sighed, eyeing the pancake a little forlornly, "He told me that maybe he didn't want to accept it. He told me that maybe he actually didn't want to raise a child with me if it wasn't even his own. That being with me and knowing I was pregnant from someone else just made him lose interest in wanting to continue our relationship. That he wasn't sure what our future looked like. If we even had a future together."

Maya's brows furrowed. "What did you do?"

"I told him that until he figured out whatever was going on with him, that we needed a break." Riley shrugged. "I packed up all my stuff and I came back here, so here I am, Maya. Back to full time living with you."

"...Well your room has remained untouched, so welcome back, Honey." Maya said with a smile, trying to divert Riley's attention from the slow destruction of the relationship she'd finally found.

"Thank you for taking me back, Peaches. So now that you know, are you going to invite me on your fun city plans for the day? I may be pregnant, but it's not like I can't have fun every once in a while. I just want to forget about yesterday."

"Yeah. You can come with me." Maya smiled, nodding as she stood up and took Riley's hands. "Let's go out and enjoy the city."

~.~.~

"How do kids have this much energy this early in the afternoon…" Riley muttered, taking another small lick of her rocky road ice cream cone, watching the kids who were playing tag on the field near the park. "Especially on a Saturday. I can barely keep my eyes open."

"Beats me…" Maya responded, finishing the last of her scoop of lemon sorbet. She tossed the empty cup in the trash nearby. "Kids operate on a different level of energy than us adults in a way we can't even begin to understand."

"Ain't that the truth." Riley responded, shaking her head in mirth, "We're like neutrons. And they're like electrons. Those excited state electrons, only they're constantly excited."

"Who are the protons?"

"Men, duh."

Maya chuckled at how ridiculous their whole conversation was. She wondered if Riley even realized she was making no sense at all.

"Riley, I think your pregnancy brain is on full force today."

"I haven't forgotten anything yet, thank you very much."

They lapsed into companionable silence on their park bench, much like many of the other parents, watching the children run around screaming as they played. Maya would have preferred a little more quiet area to relax with Riley at the part overlooking the harbor, but Riley had wanted to be surrounded by children, so Maya had obliged.

"Maya…" Riley finally said after the silence had been drawn out for a while, "Do you think I'll be a good mother? I'm only twenty-six. Barely experienced life. What if I screw this up?"

"Riley. You'll be the best mother there ever was. Experience in life doesn't decide whether or not you'll be a good mother…" Maya said, staring blankly at the distance where two squirrels were playing with each other, "As long as you love your child, that's what counts…"

"Watch out!"

And then a soft flyball suddenly flew over in their direction, on a direct course to collide with Riley. Riley squealed, flailing her arms and cowering, covering her face from the assault and nearly tossing her ice cream cone at an unsuspecting dog. Almost on instinct, Maya reached over and caught it with her hand before it could hit Riley. She winced a little bit from the impact, but kept it firmly enclosed in her hand.

"You saved me!" Riley gushed dramatically. "How can I ever repay you?"

"Riley, it's no big deal. It's just a ball."

"This is terrifying!" Riley suddenly exclaimed furiously, "What if my kid hurts himself while playing because of some errant ball? I would never want to bring him to such a dangerous environment."

"Riley, you know you'll have to get over that fear and take him to a park eventually."

"No way! Aiden will stay indoors safe from any dangers of these public parks with their rabid squirrels and flying balls. He's not losing any of his teeth because because he fell off the monkey bars."

"Kids have to get hurt every once in a while. It's the way they grow and get stronger and develop tolerances to pain." Maya chuckled, rubbing her palm. "Otherwise you'll be subjecting your kid to a life of isolation just because _you're_ scared. Thus he'll be stuck at home, gazing out his window at the playing children wishing he could just once play with them too. And then fifteen years down the line, you have a rebellious son who refuses to listen to anything you say because you sheltered him too much. Is that what you want?"

"Well when you put it that way…"

"Miss Hart!"

Maya's gaze turned from Riley at the familiar voice and sure enough, running up to her, cheeks flushed and wild blonde pigtails bouncing with reckless abandon was Anna Friar. She stopped in front of them with a wide grin, her hands resting on Maya's knees as she jumped up and down.

"Hi Miss Hart!"

"Hey, Anna Banana." Maya smiled warmly, taking a leaf caught in her curls off of her head. "You're covered in dirt."

"I've been playing a lot!"

"Who's this little cutie?" Riley asked, leaning forward and tweaking her nose.

Anna giggled, trying to cover her face.

"Anna Friar. She's a student in my class." Maya lifted the flyball. "Is this yours, Anna?"

"Yeah! Daddy threw it too hard, and it flew over my head." Anna responded, reaching out as Maya dropped the ball into the glove she held out.

"She's right. I'm totally at fault. Sorry to bother you again, Ms. Hart." Lucas said, coming up behind Anna. Maya glanced up, and he smiled in greeting. "Hi."

"Hey." Maya shook her head. "And it's no problem. You know Anna's always a pleasure."

Anna ran away slightly at a distance, waving her little glove in the air. "Daddy, hurry up! We have to keep practicing!"

"She's got way too much energy…" Lucas muttered with a slight chuckle, "We've been here for hours, and she still isn't tired yet."

"Well, that's what you would expect from a seven year old." Maya said, "But at least you're spending quality time together."

"Yeah. I cut my work hours down a bit. I'm trying. It's a little hard changing up old habits, but I'm happy to do it for her."

"That's good."

And then Riley cleared her throat, nudging Maya. "Who's your pretty friend, Maya? Introduce me."

Maya gave Riley a 'knock it off' look. "Uh, Mr. Friar, this is Riley Matthews, a friend. She teaches kindergarten at JQA elementary. Riley, this is Lucas Friar, Anna's father."

"Hey. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too." Riley said cheerfully.

Lucas' phone rang then, and he checked the caller ID before frowning in concern.

"Shoot. Do you mind playing with Anna for a second?" Lucas asked Maya with an apologetic look on his face. "I really need to take this. It's one of my interns."

"Sure. Not a problem."

"Thanks."

Lucas walked away, answering the call, and Maya stood up, stretching out her limbs. She hadn't been expecting to do any real physical activity that day, but it looked like it was inevitable. Riley stared up at her, a slight excited gleam in her eyes. Maya glanced at her and with a sigh, realized Riley was fangirling.

"What?"

"If that's what the dads look like in your class, maybe I should have become a second grade teacher."

Maya snorted, rolling her eyes as she rotated her right shoulder. It'd been a long time since she played catch.

"He's _gorgeous_ , Maya."

That he was.

"Did you see his bone structure? And oh my God, his _eyes_. They're so intense. Not as heart-pounding and lovely as Charlie's of course, but still…"

"He's alright." Maya rolled her eyes.

Riley always spazzed over good looking people, having created something like a mental 'scrapbook' where she collected images of attractive men she'd see in the city and gushed over them.

"But Anna doesn't really look that much like him."

Maya glanced over at the small girl tossing up her flyball and catching it. She kind of had Lucas' face. A little bit. But other than that, she had crystal blue-gray eyes and curly blonde coils, a brighter shade than Lucas' dirty blonde.

"I guess she must take after her mother then." Maya shrugged. "I'll be back. Don't try to leave and go anywhere. You'll get lost. Your pregnancy brain is too strong right now."

"I'm not going to get lost!" Riley responded indignantly.

Maya chuckled as she made her way over to Anna, cracking the bones in her fingers to loosen up her hands.

"Are you playing with me, Miss Hart?"

"Yupp. At least until your father is done with his phone call." Maya smiled. "Alright. Throw me your best ball. Imagine you're at a national tournament and you need to strikeout an imaginary batter."

"Okay!"

Anna reared her hand back and threw the ball at Maya as hard as she could. It cascaded into the air, and Maya caught it carefully, wincing slightly when it stung her palm.

Maya would have preferred using a glove, but she obviously didn't bring hers and she wasn't going to be playing that long anyway, so she could just endure the slight sting for now. At least Anna wasn't throwing terribly fast or hard throws yet. But for a young child with barely developed muscles, it was pretty damn good.

"Very good." Maya tossed the ball back to Anna, watching and laughing as she caught it in her little glove and then jumped up and down, running around in a small circle. "Try snapping your wrist a little bit more right before you let go of the ball. It'll give it more push."

Anna nodded and threw the ball back at Maya. They carried on with their little game of catch, Maya switching up her pitches to Anna by throwing them more curved or more arched or to really try to throw her off a bit, she spun it as she threw it towards the ground, forcing it to bounce and making it infinitely more difficult to catch. But Anna kept her eye on the ball carefully, doing her best to catch them. For a young seven year old, that kind of attention wasn't something Maya commonly saw, so she was very intrigued.

"You're pretty serious about this." Maya said, impressed, "Your father told me you've been here practicing for hours."

"Yeah! I must train to be the greatest!"

"What are you training for?" Maya asked, accidentally clipping her fingernail when she caught the ball and forcing herself not to wince when it stung a little more than she had hoped.

Her hand was actually starting to hurt a little bit. It'd been too long since she last caught any balls and her hand wasn't used to that pain anymore.

"I want to tryout for the Little League baseball team tomorrow but Mark Kawamura said I wouldn't make it because I was a girl and that baseball was for boys! That's not fair! Daddy says I should tryout and prove him wrong!"

Maya mentally laughed in her head. Maya could easily tell that Mark most definitely had a crush on Anna. That was the only reason he kept teasing her. That Friday, he had sprung one of Anna's curls and watched it bounce back and started laughing, calling her a Yo-Yo head. They'd both gotten time outs when Anna shoved him and then he threw mud at her.

"You're right; that isn't fair." Maya said, tossing the ball back to her, "But don't let what anyone tells you stop you from chasing your dreams, okay? If you want to try out for the team, then try out for the team. Little League is for boys _and_ girls."

"Will you be there, Miss Hart?"

"Hmmm?" Maya asked, a little distracted as she caught the ball.

"Will you be at my tryout? Can you come watch me?"

"Uh… I guess I could go."

She did suppose she had other students who were also trying out as well. She could bring cupcakes or something for the members of her class. Maya had been planning to spend the rest of her weekend relaxing, but tacking on those plans wouldn't be so bad.

"Yay!" Anna cheered.

Maya laughed as Anna flung the ball back to her. It was a little wild, and went low, but Maya easily stooped and caught it right before it scraped the ground.

"Daddy, did you hear that? Miss Hart says she'll come to the tryouts!"

"I heard." Lucas said from somewhere behind her.

Maya turned around, a little surprised to see he was there because she hadn't even heard him approach. How long had he been in their general vicinity?

"Everything all good?" she asked, tossing him the ball underhanded, trying to ignore how sore her left hand and fingers had become.

He caught it deftly, making his way over to her.

"Yeah." His brows furrowed in concern as he stopped in front of her. "Is your hand okay? I noticed you were catching the ball barehanded."

Maya turned her left hand over and noticed the skin was kind of red from the continued onslaught. But she didn't think it was too bad in particular. She'd definitely experienced worse. And at least it wasn't a real softball or a hard ball.

"Nothing I'm not used to." Maya said, smiling fondly as she flexed the fingers of her hand to loosen up the tightness, "My softball coach back in college was a total lunatic. She made us do drills without gloves so we could get used to the pain from catching balls. I guess I've forgotten the pain, though."

"You played softball?" Lucas said, his brows rising a little in surprise.

"Yeah..." Maya rose a brow. "Why do you look so surprised? Is that so weird?"

"No. I just... imagined you as more of a dancer or gymnast or something like that."

"I never was one for more graceful things. That was all Riley. But yeah, softball got me through college." Otherwise she might not even have gone. "It was a lot of work though. My coach wasn't one for leniency. We had to be the best."

"Baseball was the same for me." Lucas agreed, "Sometimes I wonder how the heck I even got through some of those workouts."

Maya smiled, glancing up at him with a slightly quirked brow. "You should have seen what our coach made us do on the off season so we wouldn't slack off. I haven't been able to touch a swimming pool in years."

"I can't even imagine." Lucas chuckled, "It paid off though. You have a good arm. Or, you know. Good form."

"Oh." she said, a little taken aback by the easy compliment he'd just paid her, "Well... Thanks."

They fell silent, and Maya fought the urge to fidget or wring her shirt in her hands. She averted her gaze to her hand and pretended like she was observing the slightly reddened skin.

"I have an ice pack in my car if you need it for your hand." Lucas said after a while, "Do you want me to get it for you?"

"Oh no. It's fine." She nervously ran a hand through her hair, still not quite looking at him. "Don't worry about it."

"If you're sure…" he said softly.

"Yeah…"

"Daddy c'mon!" Anna shouted from the distance, "Throw the ball already!"

Maya blinked, clearing her throat and smiling. She turned towards where Anna was waiting for Lucas to continue their game of catch.

"You weren't kidding about the energy."

Lucas sighed in exasperation. "We're going to be here for a long damn time…"

"Well, you two have fun." Maya laughed. "And good luck."

Maya left the area and briskly made her way back over to the park benches and picnic tables where Riley was sitting rocking side by side almost dreamily and muttering to her abdomen as she rubbed it. As Maya took her seat beside her, Riley turned her attention to her in excitement.

"Maya… seriously. I didn't know there existed a species of man like him."

Maya rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Shut up about his looks already. I get it. He's a hot dad."

"How can I shut up? He's so unbelievably attractive it's kind of scary." Riley shuddered, her nose wrinkling. "And it's actually kind of terrifying. I can't imagine what woman would be able to be with him without feeling completely insecure or the target of people's jealousy. And now that I've noticed it, some of these other moms are eyeing him like he's the last pair of Jimmy Choo pumps on sale for 65% off."

Maya had noticed the amount of women who were eyeing him or staring at him, but quite frankly, she didn't really care. And honestly, she wasn't really interested in carrying on this conversation. Maybe it was just because Anna was a student in her class, but it felt a little awkward discussing one of her student's parents like that.

"Sounds like you've got shopping on the brain." Maya said, changing the subject.

Riley was staring behind them at some small shops on the street, her eyes still carrying that dazed excitement.

"Mmhmm…" She nodded slowly, her expression a little glazed over. "That sounds really nice right now…"

"So what else is on the agenda for our day out?" Maya asked, stretching her arms above her head with a yawn, "We've already finished all of my errands. What do you want to do for the rest of the day?"

Riley hummed. "How would you like to come shopping with me for maternity clothes? Paychecks just went through! I've got some extra spending money."

Maya groaned. That was the exact thing she didn't want to hear.

"You take _forever_ when you shop."

"It'll be fun! C'mon, let's just go." Riley pouted cutely, "I was supposed to hang out with Charlie, but we're on break so how else am I supposed to keep my mind off of it?"

"I hate that ability you have to guilt me into doing things with you." Maya growled. "Fine, you annoyingly adorable pregnant woman. I'll come shopping with you."

"Yay!" Riley cheered, standing up with renewed energy, her trademark doofy smile on her face.

Maya stooped with a sigh and gathered her and Riley's bags of groceries from the farmer's market. After she'd double checked and made sure Riley hadn't forgotten her wallet or her keys—it had happened multiple times before—the two women headed through the park to go to the shopping district Riley preferred.

For some inexplicable reason she couldn't even begin to figure out, Maya's gaze drifted over to where Lucas and Anna were playing catch in the near distance as she and Riley passed on by. To her slight surprise, Lucas was watching her too.

Their eyes met and for a small moment, they just stood there, holding each other's gazes.

Lucas smiled slightly. Nervously licking her lips, Maya returned it before tucking some hair behind her ear and hurrying to catch up with Riley who, for being a pregnant bubble at the moment, was walking particularly fast.

Maya chose to ignore that moment—whatever the hell it had been.

~.~.~

Maya sat on the chair of the back balcony of her apartment, her chin resting on her knees, staring out at the distance while nursing a beer. It was chilly outside, the cold night air causing her skin to erupt in goosebumps with each blast of wind that drifted over her. But despite that, she didn't budge or bother getting up to grab her sweater. There was a car honking in the distance, causing a ruckus, yet it didn't shatter her daze.

Nothing did. Not even when she felt a few soft droplets of water indicative of burgeoning rain.

Nothing shattered her absentminded musing until her phone suddenly started ringing.

Maya's eyes shot to it, her breathing harshening as she stared at it. She took in a shuddering breath and picked up her phone slowly, her fingers trembling the slightest bit as she answered it.

"H-hello?" She cleared her throat when sound barely came out. "Hello?"

 _"Yes, you called about Renee a few minutes ago?"_

"I did." Maya held her breath.

 _"Her birthday is April 5th."_

Maya let out a slow breath, her shoulders slumping as her heart sank.

"I see. Thank you. Sorry to bother you. Have a nice evening."

 _"You too, hun. Buh bye now."_

Maya ended the call and set her phone shakily down on the patio table, fighting the dangerous tightening of her throat. The back of her eyes burned with tears, and she sniffled, closing her eyes momentarily as that familiar pain crawled into her heart.

"Maya, you okay?" Riley asked with a yawn, rubbing her sleepy eyes as she walked out onto the balcony. "Why are you out here so late?"

"…Couldn't sleep." Maya said, clearing her throat and turning her head slightly so Riley couldn't see her face.

"Me neither. Aiden's in a _kicking_ mood. Who were you talking to on the phone just now?"

"Just my mom." Maya lied, staring at her phone. "Didn't know how to make brownies, and she was craving them."

"You okay? You seem a little quiet. Maybe a little down."

"No. I'm totally fine." Maya said, flashing Riley a quick smile if only to try to convince her a little, "Just drinking my beer, reminiscing on the good times."

Riley nodded, yawning as she rubbed her belly. "Well you should come inside. It's kind of cold out here and it looks like it's going to rain, and it wouldn't do for you to get sick. Plus I need someone to keep me company while I watch Netflix."

Maya nodded. "I'll be in in a minute."

She waited until Riley had gone back inside before she let her eyes well with the tears she had been holding back. She slumped back against her seat, staring out at the distance at the city lights from the buildings, sniffling quietly as her shoulders shook slightly from her silent sobs.

How much longer would this go on?

How much longer would she have to suffer?

How much longer would she have to live with her guilt?


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: You guys don't have to hide your speculations if you don't want to!** **I enjoy reading them and seeing what you guys believe will occur!** **So feel free to put any and all of your predictions if you want :) Obviously, I won't validate or invalidate those speculations in my response lol, but I definitely do love to see how you guys interpret the occurrences and what you think is happening.  
**

 **Urgh... the dialogue for this one was a little hard to write. Kind of gross. Maybe cheesy. I don't know if I like it. I had some difficulties to be honest. This chapter is also particularly slow.  
**

 **I appreciate the reviews guys! Thank you for taking time out of your busy days to read this story and review. It means so much to me and I am sincerely glad that I am able to entertain you in some way! Thank you! :D**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Girl Meets World, but… eh I got nothing…**

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Maya walked across JQA Elementary's lower field towards the bleachers where parents and family were resting, chatting with each other as they waited for their children's tryouts to begin. There were kids all over the field, stretching and talking and laughing and running around, and it brought a smile to Maya's lips. They were absolutely the cutest.

It was a little colder than Maya would have liked that afternoon and definitely one of those afternoons that she would have spent bundled up under her covers reading a magazine or catching up with whatever latest trashy romance novel Riley had devoured because Riley desperately wanted a companion to discuss the stories with.

But she'd told Anna she would be at the tryouts and Maya refused to break a promise, no matter how cold her fingers were. It stank that she had forgotten her gloves on the coffee table, but she supposed if she just kept her hands in her pockets, she wouldn't suffer too much.

"Hey Miss Hart!"

"Hi Miss Hart!"

"Hey Damion. Hey Tyler."

Maya smiled at the two boys who whizzed around her as they played tag. She laughed to herself, holding up the large boxes of cupcakes she had in her hands before one of the boys accidentally ran into them. Riley had helped her make them last night, but she'd gotten carried away and made way too many. Riley had eaten about half of them off and on throughout the evening, but the amount left was still a lot so Maya had boxed them up and was planning to just let it be a free for all for all the kids trying out that afternoon.

She made her way over to where Coach Morris was standing with his clipboard next to the refreshments on the bench, looking up every once in a while and marking things on his sheet of papier. The PTA was particularly involved in the process of the tryouts, and Maya was impressed. They'd definitely outdone themselves with all the snacks and drinks available for the kids once they were done.

"Justin." Maya said, walking over to him and holding up the boxes of cupcakes, "You think you've got room for one more treat for the kids? Made too many of these cupcakes."

He glanced down at the box in her hands.

"Actually, that's perfect." Coach Morris said with a smile, "I was thinking there wasn't anything sweet to balance out all this salt. But you just fixed that."

"That's good." Maya stooped and set them down on the bench carefully before straightening up. "Thank you for taking them."

"No, thank _you_ , Maya."

Maya made her way over to the bleachers, rubbing her hands together to try to bring back some of the feeling in her hands. She was a little annoyed that despite it being late afternoon, the temperature was still closer to the low than the high.

Maya now understood why Riley had absolutely refused to leave the comfort of their apartment that afternoon citing that she refused to possibly get frostbite which would freeze her baby belly and then make it break off. It had been ridiculous, and Maya had had a good laugh at that, but she did understand where Riley was coming from with the cold weather. She had to make sure she stayed healthy and staying indoors was the best way to do that.

Maya waved in greeting at a few of her room parents before she took a seat on one of the bottom rungs of the bleachers that had been set up for parents and spectators. She yawned and then watched as the tufts of cold air materialized in front of her face. She fought her urge to check her cellphone with every ounce of her being, telling herself it wasn't worth it to look right now and disappoint herself.

Thankfully, she was saved from her temptations to reach inside her bag for her phone when Anna ran up to her, tugging behind her a cute little girl with an afro puff as they made their way over to her. Their noses were a bit red from the cold, and Anna's friend was sniffling, her nose a bit runny, but they had wide, excited grins on their faces.

"You came!" Anna exclaimed happily, "You came, Miss Hart!"

"I promised you I would, didn't I?" Maya said, "Are you ready?"

"Yeah! Are you going to cheer for me?"

"Of course. I'll be cheering for everyone, because I want you all to succeed."

"Thank you, Miss Hart!"

"Who's your friend?" Maya said, smiling at the adorable girl blowing into her hands and bouncing on her feet.

"This is Amber Ross! We're the only two girls who are trying out so we both have to make it."

"Oh yeah? Are you excited?"

"Yeah." Amber said, grinning cheerfully and revealing the two missing front teeth in her smile, "We're gonna beat those stupid boys and make the team!"

"Well good for you both. Go out there and show everyone that girls can play baseball just as well as boys."

"Yeah!"

"We will!"

Coach Morris blew his whistle then, signifying the start of the tryouts and calling over all the kids to gather around as he made his opening remarks and instructed them on what was to happen.

"Alright, head over to Coach Morris. Good luck out there girls."

Amber and Anna ran off hand in hand to group up with the other kids who were in front of Coach Morris, buzzing with energy and excitement and waiting for the tryouts to begin. Many of the parents also began to take their seats on various parts of the bench, all ready to watch the long process of deciding the little league teams for the school. Maya regretted not wearing even more layers under her coat because she had a feeling that sitting still in the cold like this would only make her feel more like she was slowly freezing and becoming a Popsicle.

As the thought crossed her mind, Lucas walked by holding a coat when their eyes met.

"Is this seat taken?" he asked with a small smile, referring to the place beside her.

"Uh no." She gestured to it, looking up at him in slight surprise. "Be my guest."

He settled next to her, letting out a long, tired sigh. He looked a little exhausted if Maya was perfectly honest, and she wondered just how much Anna tugged him around to her heart's content. Anna was fairly hyper. Maya had no doubt she was a handful.

"You look tired." She remarked casually, waving to Sammy on the field who grinned and waved back.

"Yeah, well… Anna's a never wants to sleep, early to rise kind of girl." Lucas shook his head in disbelief. "We spent all day at the park. I thought kids were supposed to stay asleep for longer periods of time. Five AM. The sun wasn't even up, and she was already jumping on me before I could even realize what was happening."

Maya laughed. "I guess Anna is an exception. She really is a bundle of energy."

"Yeah…" he said fondly, "She gets a little hard to handle sometimes. Even Mrs. Coleman has a bit of difficulty keeping up with her and she's apparently the best in the market."

"It'll probably mellow out a bit by the time elementary school is over. I'm sure you can manage three more years of that."

"Three years…" he muttered in a fake tone of despair, "No sleep for three years…"

Maya chuckled quietly, watching as the kids split up and went to their respective age groups for their tryouts and waving at another one of her students who spotted her.

"Your students really seem to like you." Lucas pointed out.

"What can I say?" Maya said playfully, "I guess I'm just a likeable person."

"Are you? I don't know…" he said, imitating her tone, "Do likeable people call other people assholes?"

Maya gave him a dry look. "Again: totally justified. You're never going to let that go, are you?"

"It was pretty shocking for me." Lucas responded, his lips curving up into a slight smirk, "I never expected to almost get cussed out by my child's teacher. For a second there, I thought you were going to try to strangle me."

Honestly, the thought _had_ crossed her mind during their conversation.

"Maybe next time that'll teach you to not provoke a teacher on their methods."

He nodded. "Lesson _definitely_ learned."

Maya snorted and they fell silent for a bit, watching the proceedings of the tryouts further on the field. It seemed like those in the 6-8 age group would be up for catching first. Anna waved at them and they waved back to her before she spun around and ran to the rest of the group.

Maya felt a chill settle on her fingers again, and she rubbed her hands rapidly together, blowing air into the space between her hands that she'd created to try to speed up the process of the warming.

"Your hands are cold?" Lucas asked, watching as she tried to bring some feeling back into her hands.

"Just a little bit. I forgot my gloves."

"Here." He pulled out a pair from the pocket of his coat. "Take mine."

"Oh. No. You'll probably need them."

"No, I'm fine, I swear. It's okay."

"…If you're sure."

He nodded, handing them to her, and Maya smiled gratefully in thanks as she slipped her hands into his gloves. She almost started laughing at how much space was in the gloves since they were fairly large considering how small her hands were, but they did shield her fingers from the cold, and Maya almost sighed in bliss from the warmth. They were comfortable.

"Thank you."

"No problem." Lucas smiled.

Their conversation tapered away and they quieted, watching as the tryouts proceeded on the field.

~.~.~

After Anna hugged Amber goodbye as the girl left with her mother, she walked over to Lucas and Maya, yawning, her nose and cheeks red and eyes blinking slowly. Several other tired kids were also heading over to their parents who were standing from the bleachers and preparing to head home. The sky was beginning to darken after the long afternoon. The temperature hadn't increased much during that time and she could see some of the kids were shivering now that they weren't moving around a lot anymore. Maya herself was trying to fight her own urge to shiver.

"Daddy, I'm tired." Anna whined, standing in front of them.

"Oh _now_ you're tired. But when I'm trying to get you to go to bed, you want to play."

She rubbed her eyes, yawning again and Lucas got off the bench and bent down in front of her, taking her hands in turn and tugging her mittens on. He rearranged the beanie on her head so it was covering her ears and most of the unruly curls on her head before wiping smudges of dirt off of her cheeks and the side of her chin.

"Did I do good, Daddy?" She murmured tiredly as he helped her get her coat back on and zipped it up to her neck.

"Yeah Sugar Plum." Lucas brushed some errant curls out of the way before kissing her forehead. "You were awesome out there. I'm proud of you."

She grinned happily, her face lighting up despite her obvious fatigue. And Maya couldn't help but smile, her heart warming at the touching scene. She could tell it meant the world to Anna that her father was proud of her.

"Can I have a piggyback ride?"

"Of course. Anything for you, sweetheart."

Lucas turned around, and Anna climbed up on his back, wrapping her arms around his neck. He hoisted her up and stood, supporting her under her legs to ensure she wouldn't fall. She rested her head on Lucas' shoulder, her eyes slowly drooping shut as she tried to fight her fatigue.

"Did I do as good as the boys, Miss Hart?" she mumbled drowsily, her breathing slowly deepening.

"Yes you did, Anna Banana." Maya said softly, standing up and walking up next to them, "You did a great job today."

Anna's face settled into a small smile, but she didn't respond, her breathing even and slow as she succumbed to her fatigue.

"If this is how much it takes to get her tired enough to go to sleep, then I'm screwed." Lucas said, watching his daughter sleep, "Looks like there'll be more sleepless nights for me."

Maya laughed, gathering her bag from the ground and hitching it up on her shoulder.

"Yeah, I think you are kind of screwed."

They strolled through the lower field to leave the school, passing the many other parents congratulating tired kids who just wanted to go home. The tryouts hadn't been too long—just about two hours—but each kid had given it their all, and Maya knew that all of that physical exertion must have been exhausting for them.

"But all the kids really did well in this tryout. I really enjoyed it." Maya said.

"Are you a general fan of baseball?"

"Yes and no. I'm a New Yorker. It kind of runs in my blood to like baseball." Maya shrugged. "But I went to games with my father when I was young. It's kind of the only thing we have that connects us, so I have mixed feelings."

Lucas' brows rose as if he understood exactly where she was getting at with her comment. Memories involving her father were always laced with bitterness and a deep resentment that never subsided, even when he tried to make amends years into her adolescence. And Maya had never quite forgiven him for leaving her and her mother in her youth. Even now, well into adulthood and slowly trickling her way to her thirties year by year, she still couldn't find it in herself to forgive him.

"I'm sorry." Lucas said quietly.

She glanced at him. He was giving her a sympathetic look, a kind of knowing pain in his eyes that told Maya maybe he was also holding on to some demons of his past and unable to forgive quite so easily regarding his family.

"About what?"

"…I didn't mean to bring up old scars."

"It's really no big deal. I've made peace with it for the most part."

They quieted, trudging the rest of the way through the parking lot of the school and heading towards the main sidewalk and the street. When they reached the sidewalk, Lucas turned to her.

"Where are you headed?"

"Just about a two block's walk away. I live nearby here."

"I'll walk you home."

Her brows furrowed. "You don't have to do that."

"No, it's fine." Lucas smiled. "I want to. It's the least I can do for all your support and help. Plus, it's getting kind of dark."

Maya wasn't sure how to respond to that so she just nodded, a little stupefied by his chivalry. It kind of made her laugh a bit, the difference between the him she was speaking with and the him when she had first met him when he'd confronted her.

"So where is this Prince Charming act coming from all of a sudden?" Maya asked playfully, turning around and continuing her walk down the sidewalk as Lucas walked alongside her. "And why didn't I get this treatment from our first confrontation?"

"I really do feel bad about that. I was in a bad mood. I shouldn't have taken it out on you." He looked a little sheepish, though he seemed amused. "I feel like I need to make it up to you."

"Well, I appreciate the gesture, but don't you have to get home yourself? You should go enjoy your life and the free time you have off of work."

"My life pretty much revolves around work or Anna. I'm not sure what single fathers do in their free time." He joked.

"What? No dates lining up around the corner, Huckleberry?" Maya said as they crossed the street.

And then she stiffened, realizing what had just slipped out of her mouth. The nickname had just come to her spur of the moment when she picked up on his slight accent again, and she'd just let it come out without thinking about it. Not only that but her comment—if taken a certain way—could imply that she found him attractive. She clammed up and mentally cursed her current lack of a filter, biting her lower lip and hoping he hadn't heard her verbal slip.

No such luck.

" _Huckleberry_? Never heard that one before." Lucas snorted, raising a brow in her direction, looking completely amused. Maya wanted to crawl under a rock, fighting her blush and averting her gaze momentarily. "But no. I don't really think I'd have the time to date. I don't know. I never really thought it as a necessity before. Though I have wondered if maybe Anna might need a mother figure in the future. There's only so much I can do for her before she grows up and we can't relate."

Maya remembered what Mrs. Coleman had told her a few weeks ago regarding a lack of a possible Mrs. Friar in their household.

"…How long has it been just the two of you? If you don't mind me asking."

"Since she was three. One year in Austin. Just about three years here in New York."

"That's a pretty long time…" Maya muttered, "Has she ever mentioned anything like wanting a mother figure? Or has she acted like she wants one? It might not be a necessity."

"I don't believe so. This whole paying attention thing is new to me though, so I'm not certain. I could be missing signs." Lucas glanced at her as they made their way across another crosswalk. "Can I ask for a favour again? I know I've been asking for a lot but…"

"It's okay. Really, it's fine." Maya chuckled and gave him a slightly exasperated look. "What's the favour?"

"Do you think maybe you could try to slip in some activity like an essay or maybe an arts and crafts project that could possibly help to determine if she wants a mother figure? It would really help me a lot."

"I suppose I can add a short essay topic on family to my list eventually. That's sweet that you really care about her desires."

"She's my everything, after all." Lucas smiled, turning his head and glancing at his sleeping daughter. "I owe her at least that much for being such a crap dad."

As they approached Maya's complex, she stopped, turning and facing him.

"Well, this is me. Thanks for walking me home."

"You're welcome, Maya." Lucas replied, "Can I call you Maya? I feel like we're at least acquaintances at this point as opposed to mortal enemies."

"Yeah, sure. I guess we are." Maya said with a slight chuckle, "Alright. I guess I'll head inside then. Make sure Anna studies for that English test coming soon."

She leaned up on her tiptoes and gently stroked Anna's cherub cheek.

"See you at school, Anna Banana." Maya murmured softly, "Sleep tight."

Anna's eyelashes fluttered the slightest bit, and she made a soft noise in her sleep, but otherwise didn't open her eyes.

As Maya pulled back, settling back on the heels of her feet, her eyes caught Lucas'. He was just watching her, no particular expression on his face, though there was some far off look in his eyes that caught Maya a bit off guard. She blinked up at him silently, a temporary fluttering in her stomach from his heady gaze.

But just as soon as she saw it, it was gone, and his eyes were focused on her once again.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" Lucas asked, a slight gleam in his eyes that made it difficult for her to tear her gaze away from his.

"Tomorrow?" Maya questioned in confusion, her brows slightly furrowed.

"When I pick Anna up from Art Club." Lucas clarified, his lips quirked up in an amused smile.

"Right. Tomorrow." Maya nodded, "Okay. I'll see you tomorrow at five."

"Tomorrow then. Bye, Maya."

"Goodnight, Lucas…"

He turned around with a smile, rucking up Anna higher on his back before heading back down the sidewalk on his way back home.

Maya let out a long breath she hadn't realized she had been holding through her mouth, feeling like she had temporarily fallen in some sort of trance. She watched as Lucas headed away, suddenly understanding why Riley had spazzed about the intensity of his gaze. She hadn't noticed it that much before, and especially not when she had been angry at him, but his eyes were a really stunning green—like a sea-foam green—and his direct gaze was especially profound.

She shook her head slightly with a frown, clearing her thoughts and spinning on her heel and heading inside her complex before the predicted evening wind picked up. As she headed up the stairs to her second floor apartment, Maya's phone rang in her bag. Her pulse immediately quickened and Maya reached in her bag, digging around and pulling her phone out rapidly. She saw the number and took a deep breath, answering the call, feeling entirely anxious.

 _"Hello? Is this Maya Hart?"_

"Yes." Maya said quietly as she walked slowly down her floor hallway, "This is she."

 _"You had an inquiry on our resident named Christina this morning?"_

"I did." Maya said softly, sweat trickling down her armpits as she waited for the response.

The sound of papers flipping could be heard.

 _"Her birthday is December 9th, Ms. Hart."_

Maya's heart dropped, and she let out a dejected sigh, her fist clenching and shaking slightly.

"Understood. Thank you."

 _"Goodbye."_

"Bye."

Maya slowly dropped her phone back in her bag after she hung up, her heart squeezing in her chest. She leaned her head against her apartment door and chewed on her trembling lower lip as she closed her eyes, forcing herself to remain calm and fighting her urge to cry despite the disappointment.

She would try again tomorrow.

There was always tomorrow.

She couldn't lose hope yet.

Maya took a deep breath and slapped her cheeks, wiping at her eyes and hoping they weren't red. She composed her face and steeled her expression before she unlocked her door and walked in her apartment with a smile. Her nose almost immediately wrinkled in disgust to the smell of something burnt lingering in the air.

"Riley? Did you burn something again?"

"It was an accident! I forgot I had stuff on the stove." Riley said from the window, fanning her face as she stared out at the night, enjoying the cool breeze and the reprieve from the disgusting stench, "But nevermind that. I saw something interesting when I was looking out this window."

"Oh yeah?" Maya asked absentmindedly, opening up their trashcan and seeing one of their pots.

The bottom was completely charred and there was a large hole in place of where the metal used to be. Maya rolled her eyes in exasperation. She had forgotten how many pots and pans Riley tended to mess up because of her pregnancy brain. Maya honestly could not wait until Aiden was born because it was starting to get rather worrisome and nervewracking every day, wondering if Riley was going to be okay by herself if Maya wasn't around to help her keep her head. She'd already heard from the other kindergarten teacher about how many times Riley had almost given her a heart attack during work because she wasn't thinking clearly.

"Mmhmm… I saw you and that very attractive specimen of hot dad walking together down the sidewalk. And then talking in front of our apartment complex. You looked like a couple with a child."

Her words were normal enough, but Riley's tone had a concerned edge to it, and Maya turned around to face her.

"I'm not in a relationship with him, Riley, if that's what you're thinking." Maya said, tossing her bag on one of their loveseats, "He just walked me home from the Little League tryouts. Nothing at all wrong with that."

"On the surface level, sure…" Riley said, standing up slowly with a slight grunt and waddling carefully over to the couch, cradling her belly as she moved. She plopped herself on the sofa with a sigh of relief, leaning forward and rubbing her aching feet. "Just be careful, Maya. I'm referring to the concept of favouritism. While I understand that you are close to your students, and I guess Anna in particular because you relate, just keep that in mind. If you get too close to him or his daughter, it's not going to look good to the other parents. They'll think you're playing favourites. And I've seen what her dad looks like. If you're not careful and get to know him for real, you're going to end up with some issues with attraction no doubt."

"Chill Riley. I know. There's nothing going on. It was a friendly coincidence. Won't happen again."

"Alright… because you know I read a lot of romance novels. And I'm just saying. You two looked like you were in a romance novel."

"How? Because we were _walking_? Because we had a conversation?" Maya rolled her eyes. "Sometimes I don't understand how your mind works."

Riley laid down on the couch with a soft groan, grimacing looking very stiff and uncomfortable as she tried to find a comfortable position for her back.

"Me neither to be honest…" she responded softly, "Hey… Do you think Aiden will take after his father?"

Maya paused on her way to her room and glanced at Riley. That was the first time in months that Riley had made any sort of mention of Aiden's father. Riley tended to avoid that certain topic of conversation like the plague because whenever she did talk about it, she would get a little melancholic.

"Why are you asking?" Maya asked suspiciously.

"No reason. It's just with my due date approaching, I can't help but wonder about things…"

Things like what it would have been like if he had stayed, no doubt.

Maya knew it was upsetting Riley, even if she still had her trademark smile on her face. Especially right now since she was currently without Charlie either. No doubt the reminder of her difficult first few months of her pregnancy after being deserted plus the fact that Charlie was currently not involved in her life had Riley's mood down. She wasn't even touching or poking her abdomen, which Maya knew meant she was preoccupied in her unhappy thoughts if her mind wasn't totally consumed by the current love of her life in her womb.

"Riley hold on. Let me change, okay? Then I'll give you a foot massage, and we can talk about how you're feeling."

"Mmmkay." Riley responded, turning onto her side and staring at the wall, "Thanks, Maya Papaya."

Maya made her way to her room to strip and put on her lounging around clothes, her favourite baggy sweater and a pair of leggings. As she took off Lucas' gloves from her hands, she realized she had accidentally held onto them. She had forgotten she had even been wearing them in the first place because they had been so comfortable.

"Oops…"

There was nothing she could do about it now though. She didn't have his number anyway. But right now, she had more pressing matters to take care of Riley.

She set them on her nightstand, setting a quick reminder to herself that she would return them to Lucas tomorrow before walking out of her room to go cheer up her sulking best friend over her two crumbled relationships.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: So exams are coming up. But before exams, all my profs are trying to squeeze in last minute assignments, tests, quizzes, projects, etc. Literally next week might be devoid of updates because it's looking like I have a lot of crap that will be due all at once and my first final begins next Saturday and will last about a week and a half... I'll do my best, but as things start to take up more of my time, I'll be pretty much gone... Sorry!  
**

 **Alright. Last _slow_ chapter and then we'll start to pick up some speed next chapter :3 Thought I'd put a little humour (and some raunch. Well... as much raunch as I can put in a low T piece without it getting vulgar ahaha) in this chapter.  
**

 **Hi! Youknowwho-13! I can't respond to guest reviews through PM though :/ Do you have an account by any chance? :)  
**

 **Thank you for the kind words and all the support you guys! I appreciate it very much and I am glad that I can entertain you with this story no matter how slow it is going! Thank you for reading it! :D**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Girl Meets World, but… eh I got nothing…**

* * *

"Alright guys. Art club is just about over. Let's start to clean up some of this mess. You know the drill. Drop the brushes in the sink."

She'd chosen for this week to have a focus on small watercolour pictures so clean up would be minimal. She wanted to avoid painting with any other types of paint until the kids had a little bit better wrist control. She didn't want to end up with paint splatters all over everyone's clothes and hair and over every surface. It really was troublesome to try to clean up everything.

As the children began to put away the materials they had been using, Maya walked around, looking at the paintings they'd been working on. The kids had been instructed to draw their interpretation of the flowers in the vase that she'd placed on the table. The paintings were very nice, and she definitely enjoyed how they all had different ideas of how to do so. One of the kids had even decided to make his image out of black with only the petals of the flower coloured. And Maya was glad to see that Anna didn't seem to be having trouble keeping up with the older students, despite the fact that she probably had less experience.

"If you have your transportation sorted out and know your guardian has arrived, you may leave." Maya said, once the room was pretty much cleaned up and most of the students moved to get their bags out of the cubbyholes. "Otherwise, please stay in here until whoever is supposed to pick you up arrives."

The students said goodbye to her and made their way out of the room, heading out to leave. As she expected, Anna stayed behind, messing with a wayward curl in the middle of her forehead that kept popping out of its hiding place behind her ear. She seemed to be having a bad hair day that day. She'd hesitated to take her beanie off her head in the morning and she had kept messing with the piece of hair all day.

Maya smiled in amusement. She herself had been having a pretty bad hair day too, though she'd kept her hair in a ponytail so no one could properly tell. She had a feeling Anna would probably spend much of her teen years regularly straightening her hair. Maya's hair wasn't as coiled as Anna's but she kind of knew how much of a hassle curlier hair could be sometimes.

"Anna, come here."

She walked over to Maya curiously. "Yes?"

"Is your hair bothering you?"

Anna nodded, pouting and going cross eyed as she looked at the stray piece of hair dangling in front of her nose.

"Alright turn around."

Anna turned around and Maya leaned over her head, carefully taking the piece of hair and braiding it with some of the upper layer of hair down the right side. She did the same to the left side before she combined both plaits in the back, braiding it to the bottom and letting it hang. Anna's hair was coiled enough that it could hold the braid without a tie or pin.

"There." Maya said, "Now it'll stay out of your face."

"Thank you, Miss Hart."

"Whenever your hair gets pretty hard to handle, try using clips or braiding it back. It'll make it easier. Putting it in ponytails will also help."

"Okay." Anna nodded with a smile.

"Did your father tell you he would be late today?"

"Yeah, he said he might get off late today and to wait with you."

"Okay, well then you," Maya said, tapping Anna on the nose, "Have been selected to help me clean all these paintbrushes today."

Anna groaned, her shoulders slumping. "Not again…"

"But cleaning up is fun, Anna Banana." Maya chuckled, ushering Anna over to the sinks in the back where the paintbrushes were waiting to be cleaned.

"No it's not!"

Maya laughed and turned on the water in the sink, being careful to make sure not to open it too far widely. Maya began to clean some of the paintbrushes that had been left in the sink. Anna did the same, slightly on her tiptoes so she could see more easily over the sink.

As they washed the paint off the paintbrushes, Maya glanced at Anna, knowing that yes, she was spending more time with Anna, but contrary to what Riley had been referring to the night before, this wasn't favouritism.

Maya _had_ taken into consideration what Riley had mentioned about the favouritism for sure, but that didn't mean she wasn't absolutely cautious to make sure she never tried to give more attention to a student in her class. She cared a lot about all her kids and generally made sure to always give each of them individual time each day where she checked up on them and made sure they were okay.

Yes, admittedly, Anna was something of a special circumstance because Maya wanted to make sure she was fine in her family life since she was the only kid in her class in a single parent household whose parent was rather absent. Maya couldn't deny that maybe she did feel _some_ sort of pull towards her for whatever reason—she was a little drawn to the Anna for some reason; probably because their childhood circumstances had been the same—but she didn't treat her differently than the other students in the classroom. Riley's fears were completely founded, but Maya could differentiate between her personal feelings and how she had to act professionally.

"Alright." Maya said once they'd gotten all of the brushes cleaned up, "I'll put these away. Could you turn off the tap please?"

"Okay!"

In retrospect, Maya should have anticipated that Anna might not turn the faucet the right way, but before Maya could stop Anna as she watched her twist the knob, she'd already spun it sharply and rapidly.

And opened the faucet even wider.

And caused a plethora of water to fly out.

Which sprayed Maya.

Anna squealed, jumping back quickly as water bounced out of the sink and splashed Maya. Maya gasped, quickly reaching forward and scrambling to shut the valve before her sink flooded with water. She managed to get it shut, but the damage had already been done. Her shirt was _soaked_ through and through, the water dripping and even getting her pants. There was water all over the back of the room, on the floor and even on the walls.

Anna burst out laughing as she looked at Maya, her giggles and snorting and snickering filling the silence as Maya stared down at herself in slight shock. No doubt she found Maya's drenched shirt and the water on her face and the stray hairs stuck to her cheeks hilarious.

"Anna. It's not funny." Maya scolded playfully, "You got my shirt entirely wet."

"Sorry Miss Hart!" But Anna continued to giggle, her nose scrunched up all cute as she laughed.

"And you didn't even get wet." Maya sighed, shaking her head in mirth. "Well you think you could run down the hall to the bathroom and get me some napkins to clean up this mess?"

"Yeah!"

"As fast as you can, yeah?"

Anna took off and left the room and Maya stared down at her shirt with a sigh, holding the clinging fabric away from her body. Her shirt was one hundred percent soaked through to the point that she could see her pink bra through the white.

Thankfully, she was prepared though. She kept another shirt in her room closet just in case of an unprecedented incident and it turned out that she definitely needed it now. It was a life hack for pretty much every elementary school teacher who taught grades two and down to keep extra clothes and shoes in their rooms for themselves because ruined clothing came with the territory of the job at some point or another. And this wasn't Maya's first time having a shirt ruined. Last year, someone had accidentally thrown mud at her. And a student had actually thrown up on Riley once too.

Maya sighed again, taking hold of the hem with both hands and pulling it up and over her head in a fluid motion, taking it off before draping it over the sink to wring out later so she could take it home and wash it again.

And just as she turned around to go grab her shirt from her closet, Lucas walked in the room.

Maya's eyes went wide as she stiffened and stopped moving, blinking at him in surprise. Lucas looked a little shocked, frozen in place as he stared at her, unsure of what to do. And then Maya covered her chest with a loud gasp, spinning around and stooping over slightly.

" _Oh my God_!"

"Sorry." Lucas cleared his throat when his voice came out a little odd. "Should I just leave your room?"

"Yes! _Obviously_!"

Maya heard footsteps leave the room in a hurry and shaking her head in disbelief, Maya rushed over to the small closet in her room and ripped the door open, snatching out the top she had in there and hurrying to slip it on. Then she pulled out her coat and put that on too.

It was so _embarrassing_ and unbelievably ridiculous. Maya didn't know if there was any situation that could be more awkward than a room parent seeing a teacher without their top on.

"Daddy, why are you standing outside the classroom?"

"Uh… " He tapered off and Maya could just imagine him rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "Nothing… Just… looking for my… uh, keys?"

"They're in your hand, Daddy!" Anna giggled. "You're silly!"

"Right."

Anna skipped into the classroom, heading straight to Maya to show her the bundle of paper towels she'd gotten.

"Look! I got the paper!"

"Thank you, Anna. You think you could put some of those on the puddle on the floor?"

"Aye aye captain!"

As Anna ran to the back to clean up the mess, Maya turned towards the door. "It's safe to come in."

Lucas rounded the corner and walked back in carefully, keeping his gaze slightly away from her. And Maya was glad for it. She felt so unbelievably awkward right now. She'd basically flashed him unintentionally, and there was nothing she could do to make him unsee the image.

"Also, I still have your gloves, Lucas." Maya said, reaching into her bag hanging from the hook and pulling out the gloves she'd borrowed the day before.

"Thanks." He winced a bit. "Look, I'm sorry about the… you know."

"It's fine. I should have been more careful not to change… in the middle of my classroom…" Maya tried to smile, but her lips felt stiff, and she knew she was grimacing. She glanced up at him but as soon as they made eye contact, Maya felt her face heat up and she quickly averted her gaze. "Umm… yeah. I-it's okay."

"You sure? Because I'm really sorry. I swear I wasn't peeping or anything."

"I mean, you honestly didn't know." Maya wrung her hands together a bit. "There was nothing you could have done to avoid that situation."

"Alright."

He was staring at the top of her head, completely avoiding her gaze and her face and looking so unbelievably nervous. It kind of made Maya's lips curve into an amused smile.

Was he really that nervous about the whole thing?

"Hey." Maya said, walking up to him and holding out his gloves to him with a raised eyebrow, "Seriously. I promise you it's okay. If it wasn't, I would just yell at you, wouldn't I?"

"That's true." Lucas smiled, looking more than relieved. He took the gloves. "That's good to know. Uh… and for the record, I didn't see that much. Well, I _did_ , but it wasn't bad… I mean, wait. That's not what I meant. I meant it wasn't terrible… for me."

And then he stopped talking abruptly, cringing the slightest bit as Maya's brows rose in surprise at his admittance.

"Crap. Did that really come out of my mouth just now?"

"Yes. And you made it worse." She deadpanned, fixing him with a dry look, though she knew her cheeks were a little red. "I think you should just… go home."

"Right… I should probably shut up too." Lucas sighed. "I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to be a—"

"Honestly, it doesn't even matter anymore. Let's just put this behind us and pretend it didn't happen."

"You're right."

Lucas let out a long sigh, still looking a wholly apologetic and a little uneasy. Maya snorted, chuckling to herself and rolling her eyes. He was kind of a dork.

"Really? _It wasn't terrible for me_? I can't believe you actually said that."

Lucas' lips quirked up in an amused smile. "Would you believe me if I said that isn't even close to being one of the most awkward things I've said to someone before?"

"Yes. I'd definitely believe it."

Lucas chuckled, then turned to Anna. "Ready to go, Anna?"

"But I have to help Miss Hart clean."

"Don't worry about it, Anna." Maya said, walking over to her and crouching down, "Thank you for your help so far, but I'll take care of it from here, okay? You should go home with your daddy. Go get your stuff."

Anna nodded and went to her cubbyhole to gather her belongings.

"Who did Anna's hair?" Lucas asked curiously as she scurried over to him.

"I did." Maya said, "Her curls were a little untameable today. Just a word of advice. If you can't control her hair, tying it up in a ponytail should do the trick."

"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind."

Maya nodded. "Good. Now go home, Lucas."

"Yeah. I'm going." He smiled, "And sorry about just… that entire exchange. It was horrible."

She couldn't disagree with that sentiment.

Lucas took Anna's hand and they walked out of the classroom, Anna skipping and hopping up and down beside him as he asked her how her day was.

Maya rolled her eyes in amusement and headed to the back to finish cleaning up the mess of water. Both Friars that day had managed to exasperate her within the same day. It made her laugh thinking about the whole ridiculousness of the situation. Anna had wet her shirt, and then Lucas had walked in right when she was fixing to change.

What a disaster.

Maya laughed as she slid the paper towels on the ground to clean the mess.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** **Merry (Belated) Christmas and/or Happy Holidays beautiful people! I got a new LAPTOP (FINALLY) so time to get more serious about updating now that I don't have to share a computer with Maman though I am sooo tired from all this celebration going on lol! I'm loopy right now ahahahhaha. I hope you all have a wonderful day/week/holiday season!  
**

 **Thank you guys for being so sweet! I appreciate the reviews and I thank you for all being so kind and supportive! I love you guys! :D**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Girl Meets World, but… eh I got nothing…**

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"Okay!" Melanie Sanchez said, "So that concludes all discussions in our meeting. Now let's talk Fall Fair. Mrs. Gherkins, president of the PTA, is here to relay to you the information about the fair and planning and where it is so far."

Maya mentally groaned. She hated these parent teacher association meetings. They always took forever and a day to finish and since Maya was the representative of the teachers for the second grade, she was required to go to each one.

Mrs. Gherkins stood up from her chair at the front of the room, smiling widely. "Hello everyone. It's good to see you all again. So let's cut right to the chase. Here's where we are with the planning committee…"

Every year, JQA Elementary had a Fall Fair. Every year, they needed all the teachers to come man booths and participate in the events. Maya loved the children and the Fall Fair, don't get her wrong, but it was an all day event that lasted from Friday to Sunday and on that particular weekend, all plans had to be cancelled because there was no way anyone was going to be able to fit anything else in their schedule. Maya had been a student teacher at the school before she became a second grade teacher, but she'd been participating in the Fall Fair for about four years now, always as the head of the face paint booth. One year, she'd tried to plan an outing with Missy that she'd had to cancel because of the time requirements.

"I probably won't be able to participate this year." Riley grumbled dejectedly as she rubbed her belly.

"Probably not. But you can still show up. Maybe run one of the calmer booths. Petting zoo maybe?"

Riley gave Maya an offended look, and Maya chuckled under her breath. Petting zoo was the worst stall to run. Hands down. Teachers fought each other not to end up with that booth.

"The smelly animals? No."

"Alright." Mrs. Gherkins said, moving her chart off of the whiteboard behind her. "As you all know, the Fall Fair is a fundraiser to raise money to improve something in the school. This year, we are raising money for a new lower field for the kids since this one is just about done. But we're missing one big event that will serve as the big main event to pull a large crowd that people will need to buy additional tickets for. So let's brainstorm. What can we do?"

"A play maybe?" Amanda suggested. "We can have the parents and the teachers work together to put on a play."

"Hmm… While a play would be perfect, we don't have enough time to choose one, get a script, run auditions, find our cast, rehearse, and create sets by the time the Fall Fair comes around. It's the weekend after this one. It has to be something we can scrounge up last minute."

Riley's brows lifted. "Well then, why not do a sports' game? Parents' team versus teachers' team playing against each other for some prize. And to incentivize them properly, make the prize a pool of cash. Every participant inputs ten bucks and the winning team will get the pool."

"Ooooh that's a great idea," Mrs. Gherkins said excitedly. "But we need a sport that is fun and easy for everyone so even people who aren't used to that sport can participate. And a sport that has crowd appeal that they can actively participate in, in a sense. Something simple that people will want to come see."

"Well that's an easy one." Karina replied. "We're in New York. Baseball."

"Baseballs are pretty hard though and a bit more of a hazard." Riley responded. "Softball is a safer bet. We can do tossing as pitching which also diminishes the possibility of outrageous homeruns in another stratosphere. Annnnnd…"

Riley turned to Maya with a huge grin on her face, and Maya automatically bristled, not liking Riley's expression in the least. She knew what was coming before Riley even opened her mouth.

"We can have our very own Miss Maya Hart be the teacher's team captain. She played softball through college, and she can definitely coach our team to victory."

Everyone turned to Maya curiously, and she fought the urge to drop her forehead onto the table with a clunk and bang it repeatedly.

"Maya? Is that true? Would you be willing to be our captain? I know you usually handle the face painting booth, but the game would only be a few hours chunk on the Saturday of the fair."

Maya sighed, knowing even though she didn't particularly want to participate, they looked expectant and refusing wouldn't make sense considering she would be there anyway.

"Yeah. I can be the captain."

There were smiles around the room, and Mrs. Gherkins clapped her hands in excitement.

"Excellent! And to make it even better, we can do costume softball, where the teams are dressed in some theme. So then everyone is in favour of the softball game?"

There were nods in affirmation, and Maya gave Riley a dirty look.

"Riley…"

Riley shrugged sheepishly with a smile. "What?"

Maya rolled her eyes and leaned back into her chair as Mrs. Gherkins continued on with the next topic of conversation, the appointing of the booths and time shifts to various teachers.

~.~.~

After she and Riley got off the subway, they made their way out of the underground station and up the stairs back into city life. The streets and sidewalks were already starting to get crowded with multiple people as the work day had been drawing to a close.

"Ice cream?" Riley asked hopefully. "I got the baby daycare so I think I should celebrate not ending up with the animals."

"Riley, you slacked on healthy eating all week. Not a good idea."

"Well you should have kept me on track." Riley pouted.

"Plus, you voted for me as team captain in the fundraiser." Maya said in a fake irritated voice. "We're not friends right now."

"But Maya…" Riley whined. "Who else could have been captain other than you? You would have participated anyway."

"True, but you should have given me the option to nominate myself instead of basically pressuring me into the position."

"You're being ridiculous."

Maya rolled her eyes with a chuckle, but she and Riley crossed the street, heading over to their favourite ice cream shop, Belles. It was obscure and not one of the well-known famous ones, but the ice cream there was so rich and creamy and delicious that Riley refused to get it from anywhere else. Before Maya knew it, it had become her favourite place too. It wasn't on the way to their home and in a different part of town, but since they were headed to Smackle's birthday celebration anyway, Maya figured the quick stop wouldn't be a problem.

"Can you order for me please?" Riley asked as soon as they walked in, batting her eyelashes. "I'm tired. And Aiden wants you to order for me too."

"Fine." Maya grumbled, unable to argue against Riley when she was doing that with her doe eyes. She leaned down in front of Riley's abdomen. "Hey Aiden? Watch out for your mother's treacherous puppy dog eyes in the future. She will guilt you into doing everything for her like the deviant she is."

Riley giggled and made her way to one of the seats to relax her tired feet as Maya headed over to the counter.

"Maya!" Jacqueline greeted when she saw her. "Good to see you both. What'll it be?"

"Hey Jackie. A cup with two scoops of Rocky Road for Riley, please."

"Of course."

"Maya? I thought it was you walking down the sidewalk."

Maya turned around at the familiar voice, and her brows lifted in slight surprise when she saw Lucas. He looked like he must have just gotten off work. His hair was a little disheveled, he still had his stethoscope around his neck, and he was holding a white lab coat on his arm.

"Unbelievable," Maya said. "You. You're everywhere."

"You know Maya, Lucas?" Jackie asked curiously as she scooped some rocky road into the small cup.

"She's Anna's teacher." Lucas responded.

"How do I keep running into you everywhere?" Maya said, shaking her head in disbelief. "It's like you're following me around."

Maya found it especially interesting considering she had never run into Lucas before she found out about what Anna's home life had been like. Now it was like she couldn't go one week without seeing him often.

"Well, I live nearby here for one." Lucas chuckled. "But this is definitely a coincidence. Anna's in a pretty bad mood today. I thought I could cheer her up."

"Bad mood? What did you do?"

"Oh so you hear Anna's in a bad mood and suddenly it's my fault?" He snorted with a raised brow. "I actually did something right for once, thank you. She's in a bad mood because I think she's coming down with something."

"So Anna might be sick… and you're feeding her ice cream?" Maya asked flatly.

Lucas' brows rose, and Maya almost laughed at the confused expression on his face.

"Well now that you mention it… I guess that's not the brightest idea."

"I guess you didn't do something right then, Huckleberry." Maya teased.

"This being a father thing is harder than I thought." he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck in slight embarrassment.

"Relax, okay? You're doing a great job for a half a dad who almost fed his sick daughter ice cream."

He smiled, a brow quirked in amusement. "I'm sorry. I'm not sure I heard you correctly. Was that almost a compliment?"

"It may or may not have been." Maya responded, trying to hide her own smile. "Make sure Anna gets some rest, okay?"

"I will." Lucas said. "I guess I came all the way here for nothing. Sorry, Jackie."

"It's quite fine, Lucas." Jackie replied, "Take care of bébé."

"I'll see you tomorrow, Maya."

"Yeah."

After Lucas left, Jackie brought Maya's order to her. She rang her up and after thanking her and saying goodbye, Maya grabbed a spoon and made her way over to Riley who was watching her with a raised eyebrow.

"I got your stuff, Honey. Let's go."

Riley stood up carefully, using the table for support. "You were flirting."

"What?" Maya asked as they slowly ambled out of the place and made their way back down the sidewalk.

"I saw you flirting with Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome."

"For the last time Riley—"

"For the last time nothing. I know what I saw." Riley said matter of factly. "My brand of flirting may involve giggling and cutesy smiles and batting eyelashes, but I know flirting when I see it. And that was flirting to the extreme."

"Riley…"

"Maya just hear me out." Riley stopped walking down the sidewalk, turning to Maya seriously. "You have a tendency not to realize that some of the decisions you make are kind of crazy sometimes."

Maya's eyes narrowed.

"So me talking with Lucas is crazy?"

"No. You talking to him isn't crazy, if that's all that was."

"What do you mean?"

"Maya, you're going to fall for him. Even if you can't see it yet. It's happening. And it's only going to make things worse because you can't recognize it's happening."

Maya stared at Riley incredulously, wondering if Riley was joking or not. When she realized Riley was completely serious, Maya rolled her eyes with a snort.

"You know, I thought your pregnancy brain only made you forgetful. I didn't realize delusional was also a symptom."

"You're attracted to him, Maya." Riley stated around a mouthful of ice cream. "And he's attracted to you too."

"I'm not." Maya said in annoyance.

"Yes you are. Even if you try to deny it, your face when you were talking to him begs to differ. I'm not trying to chastise you. All I'm saying is that you should be careful because getting too close to the parent of one of your students isn't a good idea."

Clearly, Riley wasn't going to let this whole thing slide any time soon. And if that was the case, Maya would have to find some way to redirect the conversation, because she really didn't want to be talking about this right now.

"Right. So now that we're done with that, can we head to some store and find Smackle a gift? We only have a few hours before the party."

Riley gave her an annoyed look, as if she knew Maya was deflecting, but thankfully, she let the conversation drop. They continued their easy walk down the sidewalk, Riley munching on her ice cream and letting out these low, happy sighs every few seconds.

Maya just didn't understand why Riley was so worried about this. Yes, Lucas was attractive, but that didn't mean Maya was attracted to him. Yes, arguably, they had become closer, but they were still acquaintances at most. She barely knew anything about him and he barely knew anything about her. There was nothing wrong with a casual friendship. Maya was fairly well acquainted with several parents in her classroom. It wasn't uncommon for a teacher to befriend the parents of the students.

Riley was wrong anyway.

Romance was the farthest thing on her mind.

And she wouldn't let herself even think of it at all until she atoned for her mistake.

If that took years, then so be it.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Hi Guest! I unfortunately can't do a chapter from Lucas' POV in this story. I'm sorry!  
**

 ***sigh* well… here's the first update of the term while I'm sitting in a lecture eating a sandwich and bored out of my mind. Good afternoon guys! Just wanted to let you know I'm halfway done responding to stuff and I plan to finish the rest of the stuff tonight! (A New Year's Resolution that's been going on for 18 days... Welp.)  
**

 **So what happened to Maya Hart? ;3 You guys ready?  
**

 **Thank you guys for being so sweet and patient with me while I got so lazy during the break (lol that was an all time low)! I appreciate the reviews and I thank you for all being so kind and supportive! I love you guys so much! Thank you for sticking with me despite how inconsistent I am with... well... lol _life_. :)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Girl Meets World, but… eh I got nothing…**

* * *

 _"Happy birthday, Smackle!"_

Missy blew a noisemaker loudly in her face while Farkle kissed her cheek. Smackle grinned as Riley popped a party hat on her head, snapping the string in place and then clapping enthusiastically.

"To Smackle," Maya said, lifting up her shot. "For gifting us with yet another year of her anal retentiveness, sharp tongue, and complete disinterest in social activites."

"Here, here!" Missy and Farkle cheered, hitting their shot with Maya's and then knocking it back at the same time.

Riley giggled, sipping her water as patrons of the small sushi bar they were in glanced at them in annoyance.

"Happy Birthday, Izzy." Riley said warmly, sliding over an envelope to her. "Maya and I pitched in and got you this. It's a two hundred dollar all-purpose prepaid card so you can buy whatever you want with it."

"Thank you. I appreciate it." Smackle said.

Missy leaned over and whispered in Maya's ear. "A card? Let me guess. You two did last minute gift shopping."

"Cut us some slack." Maya muttered, sipping on her Long Island. "We had a meeting at the school all afternoon."

"You had a _year_. No excuses."

Maya rolled her eyes in amusement.

"I guess it's my turn now," Farkle said, pulling a small velvet box out of his jacket pocket.

Missy gasped, her eyes wide. "Oh my God… Is that—"

"An engagement ring?" Riley finished as they both stared at it in shock.

"Uh no." Farkle said quickly, scratching the back of his head as Smackle opened the box. "It's a key to my place. So you can come and go as you want… or if you… you know… want to move in with me or something. That's fine too."

Smackle stared at it for a few beats of silence as the rest of them waited patiently for her reaction. She looked up at him with a frown.

"Farkle Minkus. Are you asking me to cohabit in your living quarters?"

"I figured since we've been together for this long, it was about time. All your stuff is basically in my apartment."

"Well then. I accept." She wrapped her arms around his neck, giving him a tight squeeze. "I'm so glad it wasn't an engagement ring. I am nowhere near ready to even think about marriage."

"Good." Farkle looked relieved. "I'm glad."

 _"Awwww…"_

Missy and Riley gushed obnoxiously, their voices high pitched and their squeals nearly busting out the ear drums of their friends. Smackle and Farkle nuzzled their noses together, and Missy's grin turned into a disgusted sneer.

"You guys are just _so_ cute flaunting your perfect relationship in our faces when you're the only ones in one," Missy said sarcastically, "and the rest of us are suffering from a lack of decent men in this damn city."

"Maya will be in one soon too if she keeps flirting with Mr. Friar like she has." Riley piped up, innocently taking a sip of her water when Maya turned her head and scowled at her.

Maya _knew_ Riley would make some sort of comment about it. She was hoping Riley's words might slide or be ignored or chalked up to Riley's current behaviour issues due to her pregnancy, but Maya had no such luck. Everyone's eyes were on her.

"…Mr. Friar? Is he not that super hot dad you told me about that one time, Riley?" Missy asked curiously. "The one with the eyes?"

Riley nodded. "Yeah. Mr. Tall Dark And Handsome. Maya was hardcore flirting with him earlier today at Belles. You should have seen them. They couldn't take their eyes off of each other."

"We were conversing. Obviously we were looking at each other," Maya said quickly. "Pay no attention to Riley's blathering mouth. She's on a drug called pregnancy."

"Flirting?" Farkle asked slowly in concern. "Isn't that a conflict of interest or something?"

"Yeah. Is it okay for teachers to date the parents of their students?" Smackle asked in confusion.

"There's nothing technically or legally wrong with dating a parent of your student," Maya explained. "It's more of a moral or ethical thing because of possible nepotism or favouritism, but that's not an issue because a) I'm not going to date nor am I interested in dating Lucas—"

"Lucas, huh? You guys are already on a first name basis?" Missy waggled her eyebrows suggestively.

Maya shot Missy an irritated look.

"—and b) I'm professional enough that I can keep personal feelings away from social interactions. We had one little conversation that was a tiny bit playful. I mean, yeah we're something like maybe friends I guess, but that's as far as it will go."

"Except that he saw you without your top on~" Riley sang nonchalantly, the perfect picture of innocence even though she had a mischievous gleam lingering in her eyes.

" _What_?!" Missy exclaimed at the same time that Farkle's chopsticks fell out of his hands and clattered onto the table noisily. The area around them momentarily grew quiet, patrons of the sushi bar turning to the group in irritation. "Did you two—"

"It wasn't like that!" Maya quickly corrected. She knew she shouldn't have told Riley about the little incident while they'd been shopping. "I got sprayed with water in my classroom and momentarily took off my shirt to put on my spare, and he happened to walk in at the wrong moment. There was nothing else. The incident didn't matter at all and it's been forgotten."

Smackle frowned. "Has it though?"

"Yes, we've forgotten about it," Maya said sharply.

"Well, maybe _you_ have, but how do you know he did? If I saw an attractive woman I'm friends with in her bra, I wouldn't forget it that easily. Especially if I saw her often." Smackle cast him an annoyed raised brow and Farkle cleared his throat. "Not that I would even pay attention to her in the first place."

"Good save." Missy drawled, taking a sip of her beer.

"He's forgotten about it." Maya asserted.

"I don't buy that," Missy said. "That image of you is probably engrained in his mind, Maya. I mean look at you. Who wouldn't keep fantasizing about you? I bet he keeps imagining those charming baby blues of yours looking like a deer in headlights as he takes care of—"

"That's exactly what I thought too!" Riley exclaimed. "I think he's attracted to her. Missy, I wish you could have been there this afternoon when we were at Belles. And then he walked her home once. If that's not romance in the making, I don't know what is!"

"It wasn't romantic! We literally only had a conversation."

Maya's cellphone started ringing in her bag, and she rolled her eyes, reaching inside and digging around the mess of old receipts and tampons to find it. She pulled it out and then froze when she saw her mother was calling. Maya swallowed tightly, standing up slowly as her breathing harshened a bit.

"Guys, I have to take this call. I'll be right back."

She walked slowly towards the front doors, pretending like it was no big deal. As soon as she knew she was out of sight of her friends, she walked faster, straight out of the small restaurant, and headed over to one of the secluded outdoor tables in the front. She plopped down in one of the chairs, trying to control her breathing as she answered the call with a trembling finger.

"Mom."

 _"Maya, I got a call from the hospital that you were inquiring about your baby again,"_ Katy said furiously. _"I can't believe you. You're continuing on with this thing?! I thought this ended years ago!"_

Maya's breath caught in her chest. She'd been hoping they wouldn't contact her mother about it.

"It never ended. I only told you it did that so you'd stop bugging me about it."

 _"Maya, this is nuts. What are you going to do, look for every single child who fits her description?"_

"Yes."

Katy sighed on the phone, sounding exasperated.

 _"We talked about this, baby girl. She could be anywhere out there. Maya, I understand you want to look for her, but this?"_

"But nothing. If I have to visit or call every orphanage until I find her, I will." Maya said emphatically.

 _"And if she's already adopted?"_

"Then I'll track her down anywhere. Whatever it takes. One day, that little girl is going to know that she was adopted. And I don't want her to think I didn't love her. I don't want her to resent me. I want her to know I want her."

 _"What are you planning to do? Just take her away from her family just because you're her biological mom? That's crazy. And that's unfair to her new family and to her."_

"I don't want to take her away from her family. I want to be involved in her life. I want her to know that I do still want her so she can have a choice on who she wants to stay with in the future. And maybe one day, she'll want to be with her biological mother. She should have that option since she is my child after all."

Katy was silent for a long time, and Maya picked at her fingernails, already anticipating what she was about to say.

 _"Maya… Do you even hear yourself right now?"_ Katy scolded her sharply. _"When you gave her up for adoption, you gave up your rights to be her mother. She's not your child anymore. We were right to tell the hospital not to reveal any information to you about where she was sent. Give it up already. It's been seven years. It's time for you to move on from it."_

"I'm _not_ giving up! And you suggesting that I stop looking for her isn't right. I had to give up my damn baby, Mom, because of all of you guys pressuring me. I _suffered_ because of it." Maya's voice broke, her lower lip trembling. "For three years I held on to that grief feeling guilty and disgusted for giving her away and I was so _empty_. So, so empty and devoid of meaning in my life."

 _"I thought the therapy you had after Gammy passed away helped you. Why are you like this again?"_

"It did help. It helped me to realize I needed to find her." Maya chuckled mirthlessly. "Finding her is the only way I can truly heal."

 _"We need to call Dr. Marks again and set up an appointment because you're still doing and talking about this insane stuff."_

"Mom, you don't understand! I'm okay! I don't need therapy!" Maya shouted, tears trickling down her cheeks. "I've been searching for so long. It's been four years without finding her. I just want to see her again. I just want to fix the mistake I made. I just want your help. I just need you to support me for once so I can find my damn child! Can't you do that for me? I've barely asked for anything from you because you were never available to help me. The least you can do is consider what I want right now after making me grow up on my own!"

Maya sniffled shakily, angrily swiping at her tears with her sleeves, angry that the old wounds from her past were being dredged up with this conversation.

 _"…Fine. I'll help a little bit, okay? I can go to the hospital and try to see if I can get some information about her possible whereabouts, but you need to know that what you're doing is crazy, Maya. It's unhealthy. You can't just go through every single orphanage and seek out all the blonde haired, blue eyed girls until you find the right one. You need to move on with your life and finally start living. You're twenty-six, and you're still stuck on something that happened when you were eighteen."_

"It doesn't matter," Maya said through grit teeth, closing her eyes momentarily. "My life doesn't matter. Not until I find her."

 _"Does Riley know you've still been doing this?"_

"No. And she can't know. She'll try to make me stop again."

 _"Look. I hope you find this girl so you can finally grow out of whatever this thing is that's been going on in your head,"_ Katy said sternly. _"Because punishing yourself for something in the past by choosing not to let yourself be happy and spending your life feeling guilty about the baby you gave up is the exact reason why you had that mental breakdown in college in the first place."_

"She'll be turning eight on June seventh." Maya stated, ignoring her mother's words. "She should be in the second grade this year."

Katy sighed dejectedly.

 _"Maya, you know she could be anywhere, right? She might not even be in New York."_

"As you've mentioned thousands of times. But I will find her. Even if it takes me my whole life to do so, I will."

 _"Maya…"_

"I made a mistake, Mom. Made the worst choice of my life and now it's time for me to make amends. I just want to find my baby."

 _"Alright Maya. Just… remember that life moves on okay? If you get so stuck and caught on the things that happened when you were young, you'll miss what's happening in life right now."_

Maya didn't say anything.

 _"…And I'm sorry, okay? If your behaviour right now is because of me and neglecting you for most of your young life, I'm so sorry that I did this to you,"_ Katy said, her voice wavering as she spoke. _"You never used to be this bad. It's like Gammy's death made you lose your sanity or something. I just don't know how to fix you. And I can't help but feel like it's too late to do anything now."_

"I'm not broken, Mom. There's nothing to fix, and I wish you would stop speaking as if I'm mental," Maya growled. "I just need to find my baby. That's all. So either get on board and shut up, or we're done here. So are you going to help me or not?"

 _"Fine. I'll see what I can do."_ Katy sniffled _. "But I don't agree with any of this, and I don't like seeing you like this. You need to talk to a professional therapist who can help you get through this because no matter how much it hurt giving her up for adoption, your life continued and you should have moved on. Bye Maya."_

"Bye Mom."

She hung up, inhaling unsteadily as she stared out at the street, trying to control her jerky breathing from her impending sobs. She swallowed thickly, fighting her urge to cry.

Her mom was wrong.

Life had stopped moving for her the minute she gave away her baby. The minute she signed those papers and turned away from the cries she heard in that hospital room. The minute she broke down, sobbing wretchedly as the doctors took away the source of happiness she'd carried for nine months. As the doctor took away the baby she'd made and cared for in her womb for so long.

And life wouldn't start up again until she found her.

She'd made that promise to herself, deciding that she couldn't move on until she found her baby. Maya regretted letting her go with every fiber of her being. And now she was missing her chances to hold her and rock her to sleep. To teach her how to read and write. To clean up her scraped elbows. To be there for her first elementary crush. To have her call her 'mommy'. To read her bedtime stories. To do her hair. To teach her how to play catch. To cherish her and love her until the day she died.

And she wanted that. She desperately wanted that.

Maya opened up her wallet, looking in between the dollar bills she had on hand and pulled out the small photo she always kept with her as a reminder to never forget the wrong she had done.

Blue eyes and a blonde head of hair framing an adorable chubby cheeked heart shaped face with a button nose and a toothless smile stared back up at her. Maya smiled as she stared at the photo, her heart aching and eyes welling with tears as she traced the perfect face of her little girl.

Maya had left her address when she signed the papers giving away her child for adoption, but hadn't tried to find out where her baby had gone or who she had gone to and had asked for a closed adoption so her child wouldn't know about her. One year later, she'd received a tiny wallet sized photo in the mail. It had been of her daughter with a little note scribbled on the back saying 'We can't thank you enough for giving us a chance at happiness. Thank you so much.' But there had been no return address, so there was no way she could figure out who had sent it or from where.

Maya had given her child up, all for the sake of a damn scholarship to college. Everyone dissuaded her from keeping her baby because they believed it wouldn't be worth it. They believed she would lose all her opportunities because no one had enough faith in her that she could get any more chances to get an education. Maya had already believed that she couldn't beat the negative expectations of her life, having little self-worth and having gone through high school without much care to academics. Accidentally getting pregnant in her last year of high school had been the nail in the coffin of anyone believing she could be successful and had shattered the last of Maya's self-esteem that she was good for anything.

The disdain on everyone's faces always showed when they talked to her. She was Maya Hart. A screw up and destined for only bad things in life. They'd pushed her to lose the baby and go to college on her softball scholarship so she could have an education and make something of herself instead of becoming a single mother with only a high school education and no shot at a future. The only one who had supported Maya no matter what was her Gammy, but it hadn't been enough. Maya had let the rest of the adults get into her head, and she'd given up, thinking that keeping the baby would be the worst mistake of her life.

But it was clearly the other way around. Maya should have gone with her gut.

It didn't matter though. Even if she'd been looking for four years. Even if each time she failed it was harder to get back up and start searching again. Even if she'd already searched countless places and people until she had bags under her eyes and could barely lift her head. Even if she'd hit so many dead ends and had to start her search over hundreds of times.

She was determined to find her baby one day.

Sniffling and wiping her eyes once again, Maya pulled out her compact and stared at herself, observing her face in it to make sure that she didn't look like she was red eyed or she'd been crying. The last thing she needed was her friends badgering her and thinking something was wrong. She'd worked hard to convince everyone she was no longer trying to find her baby, and she didn't want to get thwarted now because she was careless.

Satisfied, Maya snapped close her compact and wallet, stuffing them in her purse before she stood up and headed back into the restaurant.

"I'm happy Maya right now. Satisfied with life. Enjoying myself."

As Maya headed back to her celebrating friends, she pulled her lips up into a smile, perfectly concealing the turmoil currently running through her mind. She settled into her chair, picking up her drink and taking a sip.

"Who called you?" Riley asked curiously, rubbing her abdomen.

"It was just my mom," Maya said nonchalantly, waving off the inquiry. "The usual. Concerned about my adult life and what not. Anyway. Missy. We never saw your gift to Smackle."

"Right!" Missy said. "Open my gift, Smackle. It's just perfect. Unlike those two lazy bums, _I_ got your gift months ago considering I know how much you love…"

Maya tuned out Missy's excited chattering, picking up her drink and taking a long pull of it. She crunched on an ice cube that made its way inside her mouth, staring as Smackle opened her gift, though not really registering what was going on around her. The only thing on her mind was her conversation with her mother. Maya had meant what she said.

No matter what it took and no matter how long it took, she would find her baby.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: I noticed there was some confusion on age. There's no logical way I can slip in Lucas' age in dialogue, but just so you guys know, he's 31 in this story. Also Anna is seven (it's in Ch. 4).  
**

 **Keep the speculations coming! I love reading them :3**

 **Thank you for the kind reviews! I'm glad that you have been enjoying the story! I hope it stays interesting for you all! I appreciate the support and kind words! :)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Girl Meets World, but… eh I got nothing…**

* * *

Maya sat at her desk, composing an email to all of the teacher participants for the softball game to figure out the best practice time for everyone. She didn't like that this was so short notice, as it wouldn't give them enough time to really practice, especially if some of the teachers didn't have experience, but there was nothing she could do about it when this had just recently been figured out and all of them were fairly busy people.

"Miss Hart?"

She looked up from her phone where Emily was standing in front of her desk with a look of concern on her face.

"What's wrong, Emily?" Maya asked.

"Umm… Anna doesn't look too good," she responded, pointing behind her.

Maya frowned and craned her head to where the students were all working on their math worksheets in groups. Sure enough, at Emily's table, Anna was sitting slumped onto the table with her head nestled in her arms.

"What happened?" Maya asked, standing from her desk and walking with Emily to where Anna was.

Emily shrugged. "She said she feels sick."

Maya patted Emily's shoulder. "Thank you for letting me know."

They approached Anna's side, and Maya crouched next to her, resting her hand on her back and rubbing it lightly.

"Anna?"

Anna sniffled and lifted her head a bit and sure enough, Maya saw the dazed, watery eyes and pale complexion of a burgeoning illness. Anna looked drowsy and it was obvious that she was fighting to stay awake. Maya slid her hand under the unruly curls, placing it on Anna's forehead to check how hot she was.

"I feel sick, Miss Hart…"

"Your father did mention you weren't feeling well yesterday. You're pretty warm. You might be coming down with a fever."

Anna leaned against Maya's hand, sniffling again and groaning slightly. The entire class's rapt attention was on Anna, all of them more interested in what was happening with a sick classmate than on the multiplication worksheet Maya had assigned. It wouldn't do to keep her in class when she was clearly not in the best of health. She wondered why Lucas would even let Anna come to school that day if she was very obviously dealing with some kind of sickness. Maya got the sense that at times he wasn't exactly observant as a father, but sending Anna to school in her current state was ridiculous.

"Do you want to go to the nurse's office?"

Anna nodded.

"Okay." Maya stood up from her crouch, gently taking Anna's hands and helping the little girl get to her feet. "Can you walk?"

"Yes."

"Everyone, I'm taking Anna to the nurse's office," Maya told her class. "I will be right back. Please continue to finish up your math worksheets in your groups while I'm gone and stay in your seats. If you really need a teacher, go to Mrs. Vernon next door, okay?"

 _"Yes, Miss Hart."_

Maya took Anna's hand in hers and walked her out of the classroom, slowing down her pace for Anna since she was dragging her feet. She led her down the hallway to Tina's classroom next door, knocking on the doorframe and poking her head in.

"Maya?" Tina asked, walking over from where she had been stapling something on her bulletin board.

"Hey. My student is sick so I'm taking her to the nurse's office. You think you could check on my class every once in a while?"

"Sure."

"Thanks. I owe you one."

Leaving the classroom, Maya guided Anna down the hallway towards the front of the school and the nurse's office. A few times as they walked, Anna sneezed, sniffling heavily after each one, and after each one, Maya's heart went out to her, knowing she was probably suffering a bit. When they entered the room, Mrs. Mooney wasn't in there, but none of the little cots were occupied. Maya moved Anna gently towards one of them and pulled the covers back. Anna climbed and settled up on it, lying on her back and staring up at the ceiling through bleary blue eyes.

"Did you feel sick this morning?" Maya asked her, tugging off Anna's shoes and setting them on the floor in front of the bed before pulling the covers over Anna and making sure she was completely covered up.

Anna fisted the top of the blanket, looking a little nervous. "Yes."

"Why didn't you tell your father that you still felt sick?"

"…I didn't want Daddy to know."

Maya's brows furrowed as she sat on the edge. "Why not?"

"Because he was almost late for work this morning and running around everywhere because he couldn't find his badge and then he spilled coffee on himself and he kept saying some word that starts with F all morning a bunch of times and he only says that when something is really bad so I didn't want to be another problem for him. I thought I could handle it."

Anna was being way too selfless. She thought she would be a burden to her father if she told him she was sick? Maya easily recognized the pattern in her thought process. She was trying to shoulder everything on her own. Maya had been the same way when she was younger, but it was a hard way to live, especially once she had grown up willing to put everyone else's happiness and desires above her own to the point of being self-deprecating, one of the reasons why Maya had struggled with her view of her self-worth for years.

"It's admirable that you want to help your father like this, Anna Banana," Maya said softly, tucking Anna further under the covers to help her be more comfortable as she snuggled into the bed, "but at your age, it's okay to tell your father or anyone else you trust that you need them. It's okay for you to let other people know what you are going through. If you keep it all to yourself, it makes you feel worse, doesn't it?"

"I just didn't want Daddy to lose his job because of me."

"Lose his job? Because he would have to take care of you when you're sick?"

"We get tardy slips when we're late to school. What if he gets one at work too? I don't want him to get in trouble."

Anna did look sincerely worried about that. She really cared about her father.

"Is your father good at his job?" Maya asked.

"He's the best."

"Then you have nothing to worry about, Anna. Trust me. Your father's clinic wouldn't want to lose their best vet."

"But what if something is going bad at work?"

"Why do you think something isn't going well?" Maya frowned in confusion.

"Because Daddy looked kind of sad yesterday. He was doing that thing where he stands in front of the window and stares outside."

Maya didn't know how to respond to that. If Lucas had actually been sad as Anna believed for whatever reason, it could very well have had to do with something other than work. She didn't know what might have been going on with Lucas, but clearly it was bothering Anna.

Mrs. Mooney walked into her office with a cup of coffee, eyeing them in concern.

"Ms. Hart? What seems to be the problem?"

"I have a student who might be running a fever. I brought her here to get a bit of rest," Maya responded, rising to her feet and heading over to the nurse. "Do you think you could check her temperature really quickly? I have to go make a phone call."

"Of course," Mrs. Mooney said, walking over to her upper cabinets to get what she needed. "I'll take care of that right quick."

"Anna, I'm going to call your father. I'll be back in a little bit, okay?" Maya reassured her.

"Okay," she mumbled, her eyes starting to droop shut.

Maya left the nurse's office, heading right next door to the main office to the file room where they kept student records and information. She opened up the second grade cabinet and flipped through teachers until she got her class'. She rifled through emergency contact information of the various students until she found Anna's. Pulling out her cellphone, she dialed the number Lucas had left for contact. It rang several times before she finally got a response, and even then, it was a dial tone of a call that couldn't pass through. Annoyed, Maya called the second contact number, waiting for him to pick up.

Thankfully, he answered shortly after.

 _"Hello?"_

"Lucas, it's Maya."

 _"Oh, hey."_ He sounded a bit frazzled, his voice breathy as if he was walking briskly somewhere. _"Is something wrong?"_

"Yeah. Anna isn't feeling well at all. I had to take her to the nurse's office to get some rest."

 _"She's sick? I kind of had a feeling she wasn't feeling better this morning. I should have been more careful."_

"Right, well what's done is done. I think you should come down and pick her up from school to bring her back home."

 _"…I can't."_

"What do you mean you can't?" Maya rose a brow incredulously. "You have to."

 _"I know I have to. But I_ physically _cannot. Work is a little crazy right now. I can't just leave my appointments."_

"Lucas. I know you're really busy. It's a given in a professional occupation. I get it," Maya said sternly. "I'm not going to force you to come because work is important, but you _can't_ leave her here at school. Not when she's at her most vulnerable. You can't prioritize work over your sick daughter or you'll hurt her more than you can even know."

Lucas sighed on the other line, sounding exasperated and resigned.

 _"I'll try to see if I can stop by later, but I can't make any promises, Maya. I'm sorry. Today is just not a good day."_

"Just do what you can."

 _"I will. I have to go. Bye."_

Maya ended the call, hoping that he would be able to find some time to come to Anna. Because Maya knew firsthand what it was like to be told by your grade school teacher that your parent wasn't going to come bring you home. She knew firsthand the heartbreak in lying in that cot in the nurse's office all day and well into the late afternoon way past the end of school until your mother finally came. She knew firsthand the struggle of bunching herself under the covers and hiding sniffles and tears trailing down wet cheeks.

Of course, Maya understood later that her mother had to work and couldn't stay with Maya because their electricity had been cut off for not paying rent yet and they needed the extra cash. But it was still difficult to go through, the feeling of being abandoned by her mother, left alone while utterly ill to fend for herself. She'd gotten pity from her teacher and the nurse who had watched out for her, but neither of them were her mother.

Sighing, Maya put the files back into the right cabinet and made sure it was properly closed before she headed back to the nurse's office next door. Anna's eyes were closed when she walked in, her breathing thick and a bit strangled from her stuffed nose, and her face a bit pinched up in discomfort. There was a damp cloth on her forehead. Maya could easily see that Anna was not relaxed and definitely having trouble sleeping, though she looked very tired and like she needed the rest.

"Ms. Hart, Anna's temperature is a bit high. She is running a fever. I think it would be best if she went home for the day," Mrs. Mooney said, filling a cup with water and taking a small box of pills from the medicine cabinet.

Maya sighed. "I'm working on that."

"Is Daddy coming?" Anna asked, her eyes barely open as she looked up at Maya.

"…He's on his way."

Maya felt bad for lying, but those baby blue eyes held so much hope and had so many expectations in them. Maya didn't want to crush that hope by telling her her father wasn't even sure if he'd be able to get off work to come get her.

"He'll be here. In the meantime, sleep, Anna. I'll come check up on you later."

Maya didn't want to leave Anna by herself, but she had no choice. Though she hated when her precious students were sick and hurting, Maya couldn't stay. She'd left her class for long enough. And soon they would be going to music class, and Maya had to walk them there.

She sincerely hoped Lucas figured out some way to come get Anna.

~.~.~

As soon as Maya had brought her class to lunch and made sure they had all gotten their lunches and were seated at her class table, Maya headed briskly back up the stairs and towards the nurse's office to check on Anna. She'd been occupied all morning, not having a chance to go back and see how the girl was feeling, but now that she finally had some free time, she wanted to figure out what the situation was with that. She was feeling a little antsy, wondering if Anna would still be cooped up in the bed or if Lucas had managed to come get her in the time that Maya had been away.

She rounded the corner and entered the nurse's office, her eyes drifting to the cots to see if maybe she had already left. But Anna was still there, face pinched up uncomfortably and breathing still thick with her congestion.

"How is she?"

"She keeps drifting in and out of sleep at random times. Par for the course when one is sick," Mrs. Mooney said, watching Anna empathetically. "Poor girl has been coughing and sneezing every few minutes. I gave her some fever reducing medication, but it hasn't done much from what I've been seeing."

As if on cue, Anna suddenly started having a coughing fit, rasping for breath between each small bout. Her eyes fluttered open, and she stared at the ceiling sleepily.

It pained Maya to see her that way. "Any word from her father yet?"

"I'm afraid not."

Maya sighed, walking over to Anna's bedside and sitting on the edge once again.

"Miss Hart?" she grumbled.

"You'll be okay, Anna Banana."

Maya smoothed down Anna's hair, rubbing her scalp gently with her fingertips the way that she'd always imagined and wished her mother could do for her when she was sick when she was younger, though it never happened. She relaxed against Maya's leg, for a moment, her breathing settling a bit more, and her face relaxing.

But then Anna had another spiel of coughing, her face twisting up in slight pain and Maya felt sympathy for the little girl. Being sick at such a young age was pretty difficult, especially when the person you wanted the most comfort from wasn't there.

Lucas would come for Anna. He had to. Not just to be there for Anna, but also because Maya knew this was one of the pivotal points in someone's childhood. If he wasn't there for her when she was sick, Anna would never forget this. It would remain a dark cloud in her childhood memories and linger in her heart long after she grew. And it would forever be a point of resentment in their relationship. And Maya didn't want that.

There was knock on the doorframe and the three turned their attention to the door where Lucas walked in looking pretty unkempt, a slight flush on his face and trying to catch his breath as if he had just jogged over or something. Maya let out an involuntary sigh of relief that he had shown up.

Lucas joined Maya at Anna's bedside, leaning down and kissing Anna's forehead. "Hey, Sugar Plum."

"Daddy?" she muttered groggily, her voice sounding garbled and weak. "I'm sick."

"I know. I'm sorry it took me so long to get here," Lucas said apologetically, stroking her cheek gently. "I'll be right back. I need to talk to Ms. Hart."

Maya frowned and looked up at him as he gestured to the hallway for some privacy. She stood up and followed him out of the nurse's office, wondering what he could possibly want to talk about. All he needed to do was get Anna and get lost so she could go home and have some rest to heal from her sickness.

"Maya, I don't know what to do," Lucas said without prelude once they were standing outside the doors.

"To take care of your sick daughter?" Maya asked incredulously, staring up at him like he was an idiot. "Don't you know how to take care of sick people? I get that you're a vet, but humans can't be that different from—"

"No. Not that." He cut her off. "I have a surgery to set a leg planned in an hour, and I can't stay with Anna at home. I can't get off until after five, and Mrs. Coleman is away on vacation. None of the other babysitters are free for short notice either."

Maya frowned. "Then why did you come down here now if you can't take her home right now?"

"I knew you were right. I didn't want her to think she'd been abandoned at school while not feeling well. I had to make sure she at least knew that if I could, I definitely would have made sure to get her home and stay with her."

Maya let out a slight groan in exasperation, running a hand through her hair. This was the most inopportune moment for this to happen.

"Alright, look. Go back to work. I'll take her home after school and watch her for you, okay?"

Lucas' brows rose in surprise at her decision. Hell, Maya was surprised herself that she'd decided that spur of the moment. Her mind hadn't even had a chance to catch up with what her mouth had said, but now that she realized what she'd just offered, she knew it was a pretty huge favour to do. She just hadn't wanted Anna stuck at school until after five.

"You would do that for me?" he asked, a small smile on his face.

"Who else is going to take her home? And there's no way I'm going to make her stay here well past the end of the school day."

"I'm so sorry."

Maya shook her head. "Don't apologize to me. Apologize to Anna."

"You're right." Lucas nodded, turning to head back into the room.

Before her mind could catch up to what her hand was doing, she stopped Lucas from heading inside by taking hold of the sleeve of his jacket. He paused mid step, facing Maya in confusion and clearly wondering what she was doing or what she wanted. Honestly, Maya was trying to figure that out too.

"Hey," she started tentatively, all while asking herself if she was crazy. "…Are you okay?"

Lucas stared at her, his brows a bit furrowed from her question. He looked like he was contemplating something, though he kept his expression fairly neutral. His gaze wasn't focused though, and he looked like his mind was far off somewhere.

"…Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"It's just that… Anna said that you…" Maya tapered off, shaking her head and wondering why she was even concerning herself with what Anna had said about Lucas being sad. It wasn't any of her business what was going on in Lucas' life anyway, though he did absolutely look exhausted. "That you were really busy. You look overwhelmed. When was the last time you actually got some sleep?"

"This is normal for me." He smiled. "Thanks for your concern, but I'm fine."

Maya could easily see that it wasn't reaching his eyes. He was obviously lying, but if he definitely was hiding it for his own personal reasons, she wouldn't bug him or press him. It really wasn't any of her business.

She let go of his shirt. He did look fine if someone wasn't particularly looking for signs of unhappiness, but then again, he could have just been a real expert at masking his pain or problems. Maya would know. She'd been doing it her whole life.

"Okay."

She followed Lucas back inside the nurse's office and to Anna's bed. She was lying on her side, waiting for them to return.

"Daddy, are we going home?"

"I'm sorry, Anna. I can't. I know you wanted me to take you home, but I have to work. I came to check up on you." Anna's face fell slightly from his words, and she sighed dejectedly, her eyes downcast. "Ms. Hart will take care of you in the meantime. But I promise as soon as I'm done with work, I'll come straight home to you, okay?"

Anna nodded, sniffling to clear her nose, though she still looked a little upset.

"I'll see you at home, Sugar Plum." He turned to Maya. "I can't thank you enough. I keep a spare key under the rug in front of our apartment."

"It's fine." Maya waved it off, eyeing Anna worriedly as the girl curled into a ball to try to sleep once again. "Just make sure you come home as quickly as you can. She needs her father."

He pulled out one of his business cards from his wallet and wrote on the blank side with a pen. Once he was done he handed it to Maya. She took it, observing the address he had scrawled on the card.

"This is where we live. Do you need directions?"

"No, I know this place." Maya scrutinized it, recognizing the address being similar to Smackle's. "One of my friends actually lived in this complex."

"Okay, that's good. I'll head back to work then. Thank you again."

"You better make it up to Anna eventually."

Lucas sighed, rubbing the back of his neck and once again, Maya could easily see just how fatigued he probably was.

"I'll do my best. See you tonight then."

After Lucas hurried out of the nurse's office, Maya turned to Mrs. Mooney.

"I'll be taking Anna home after school today."

"Alright. That's good. I'll watch her throughout the afternoon then, Ms. Hart."

Maya nodded. "Thank you."

She left the nurse's office, heading to the front office so Mrs. Carpenter could make an announcement that Art Club was going to be cancelled that day so that her members could make arrangements on how to get home as soon as possible.

Maya sincerely hoped that Riley wouldn't find out about her taking Anna home, because no doubt she would give her a hard time about being too close and going to the apartment of said hot dad that she wouldn't stop bringing up. But anyway, Maya was doing this for _Anna_ because she didn't want her deserted at school, not because she wanted access to Lucas' secret life or any ridiculous crap like that.

No child should ever have to feel like they were deserted by their parent.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Hi Ummm! I responded to your concern on the review page! I hope that clears things up somehow. LOL at the Guest who wanted the unadulterated passion! Your review made me laugh! It was very funny :3  
**

 **That being said, hi everyone! It's been a while, but I'm working on responding to everything once again and updating more regularly. It's going to take me some time though. (This chapter hasn't been revised yet).  
**

 **Thank you for the sweet words and comments! You guys are absolutely wonderful and I really truly appreciate you guys always being there for me at my worst. I don't have anything but words of praise for all of you for being exceptional and caring human beings with so much kindness in your hearts. I really love you all! :)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Girl Meets World, but… eh I got nothing…**

* * *

"Okay. I think that's decent enough," Maya muttered, satisfied with the taste of the soup.

She set the mixing spoon back in the pot and cut off the stove top, wafting the fresh scent of the homemade chicken noodle soup she'd made for Anna. It'd been a little while since she'd made her Gammy's recipe, but it came out pretty well.

Of course, this had been after she'd spent a good ten or so minutes having to rummage through the entirety of the Friar's cabinets and cupboards and the shelves to try to find everything she needed. A plus side was that their pantry and fridge was pretty well stocked though, so she'd had all the ingredients she needed in order to make something good for a sick child. But Lucas being tall, most of the silverware and other things needed were located on higher shelves and cupboards, much to her chagrin. It was a bit of a struggle to climb up on the counters just to get them. In the end, looking for things got annoying, and she decided to settle for making quick soup so she could use the bare minimum of supplies.

She wasn't really sure what Lucas did for Anna when she got sick, but Maya couldn't really ask her since she wasn't totally coherent. Getting some rest at school had definitely helped her regain some energy, but the commute from the elementary school to their apartment had near wiped her out. Maya decided to let Anna rest up for another forty-five minutes or so while she made the soup so she could have the energy to eat.

Maya opened the freezer and pulled out the ice pack that Mrs. Mooney had given her to cool down Anna if she got too overheated. Taking the plastic leopard bowl that had been in a low cabinet—the _only_ one in a low cabinet—she poured some of the soup in it before replacing the pot into the stove and putting it on warm so it didn't lose its heat. She covered it with the lid and then popped a spoon in the bowl before picking it and the ice pack up and slowly making her way back to Anna's room.

The Friars lived in a pretty nice apartment—spacious—and what she deemed a pretty good size for a growing child to run around and play in. Some of the furniture looked like antiques possibly passed down through generations, but otherwise, it wasn't worn down or damaged. It was sensibly furnished with the décor all matching in colour scheme. What surprised her most was the fact that despite Lucas being a bachelor and Anna being an energetic little girl, the place was pretty neat save for a shoe here or there and some sweaters on the couch. No toys scattered all over the floor, no suspicious stains dotting the carpet, no torn furniture or scratches all over the wood. It was surprisingly better kept than the biohazard that was her and Riley's apartment.

When Maya had walked into the apartment a little less than an hour ago, Anna nearly falling asleep at her side, she'd been pleasantly surprised. The place was well kept. There was also the fact that Lucas' scent seemed to permeate the entire dwelling, an all-encompassing type of scent that clung to every surface. It was nice, though she hoped it wouldn't cling to her clothes. Riley's nose was extra sensitive these days, and Maya was certain she'd catch the scent and give her hell for it. It was bad enough that Maya had lied and told Riley that she had softball practice that night until late in the evening. If Riley figured out the truth, she'd jump to unpleasant conclusions and the last thing Maya wanted was for Riley to start up her insinuations once again with Missy.

"Anna Banana? I made you some soup to eat," Maya said, padding softly into Anna's room and over to her bedside.

She groaned incoherently, but turned over onto her side and faced Maya though her eyes stayed closed.

"I don't wanna…" she muttered in a nasally voice.

"I know you're tired, but you need to eat something to help you get your strength back. At least half of it and then I promise you can go to bed."

"Fine…" Anna grumbled, sitting up slowly with a pout.

Once Anna was situated and leaning back against her headboard, Maya sat on the edge of the bed and handed her the bowl of soup, making sure it was stable in her hands. Anna took a cautious sip from the spoon, taste testing it carefully. She looked genuinely pleased and took another careful sip, blowing on the hot soup so it wouldn't burn her tongue.

"Is it okay?"

Anna nodded, giving Maya a small grateful smile. "It's yummy."

Maya sighed in relief. "That's good to hear. I wasn't sure what your father does when you get sick."

"Mrs. Coleman was the only one who ever took care of me when I was sick before." Anna sniffled, the small trail of snot on her upper lip disappearing back into her nose. "But she would always make this yucky ginger carrot lumpy stuff. It was so gross!"

"What about…" Maya hesitated briefly. "What about your mother?"

Anna shrugged, staring down at the bowl with a slight frown on her face. "I don't really remember her."

It was expected after all. Lucas had said Anna had only been three when it became just the two of them.

"But I'm not sad! Everybody takes care of me and my aunties and grandma are really nice," Anna quickly said. "And there's the music teacher Miss Joy and my Sunday school teacher Miss Mary. And I have you too, don't I Miss Hart?"

"Of course you do." Maya smiled, placing her hand on Anna's forehead under the curls to try to gauge how warm she was. Maya was relieved that she didn't feel as warm as before. "I'm glad there are people taking care of you."

Anna continued to eat her soup while Maya gathered the clothes Anna had tossed on the floor before hopping into bed, putting them all in the laundry bin in front of her closet door. She wondered whether not remembering her mother or not having one in her home was actually possibly affecting Anna more than she let on. Maya wasn't psychic by any means, but she could definitely understand and relate to Anna's emotions and something about her response didn't inspire confidence. Maya knew how good Anna had already become at hiding what she was feeling or what was going on with her. There was a good chance she wasn't letting anyone know what her actual feelings were on the matter.

"Miss Hart? I'm all done."

Maya walked back over to her bedside and took the now empty bowl. She helped Anna to lay back down in a comfortable position for sleep, her head propped up on a bunch of pillows to help with her congestion. Maya was glad to see that a little bit of the colour had returned to her pale face.

"Are you comfortable?" she asked softly, smoothing Anna's tangled hair out of her face as she snuggled further in the covers.

"Mmhmm…" Anna mumbled, blinking up at her through bleary blue eyes. "Thank you."

"You're very welcome. Get some rest." Maya tucked her in tightly, enough so that she could be wrapped in a cocoon of warmth but not tight enough that it would make it hard to breath. Then she put the ice pack on Anna's head as the girl's eyes drooped shut. "I'll be right in the living room if you need me, okay?"

She left the room, walking to the kitchen to clean the dirty bowl. Maya vaguely wondered how she'd ended up in this situation taking care of someone else's child who was sick. Honestly, it was kind of crazy in and of itself and she knew if Riley ever found out, she wouldn't shut up about it.

Once she put the bowl back in its storage in the cupboard, Maya looked around, trying to think of what to do while she waited for Lucas to return. It wasn't her apartment, so she definitely didn't want to start digging around or using things that didn't belong to her. But she'd left her laptop at her own apartment that day and she'd already finished grading the homework worksheets earlier that afternoon. Watching TV was a no. She didn't want to accidentally wake Anna up from the noise.

She needed something to distract herself with because her thoughts were starting to drift down their typical dark road. Thoughts like how she could have had a chance to take care of her sick child had she only kept her. Thoughts of how she'd missed a real opportunity because of her stupidity.

"Maybe I'll read…"

She walked in the living room, heading over to the bookshelf that was nestled in the corner. A lot of the books were covered in thin layers of dust, and Maya knew they hadn't been touched in a while. She scanned the shelves, perusing the titles for something that could occupy her attention for the time being. The lower shelves had a lot of old textbooks and reference books for veterinarians. There rest were mostly children's books, but right in the middle, she caught sight of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Maya pulled it out of the shelf, wrinkling her nose when the dust flew in her face and almost made her sneeze. The book's pages were nearly yellowed with age and kind of falling apart at the seams and patches of dust caked on the cover were so old they would have to be scraped to be removed. It looked like it hadn't been opened in ages, not to mention the copy itself was very old.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz had always been Gammy's favourite book to read to her on nights when Katy was working late and wouldn't come home that night before Maya went to bed. Maya had fond memories of the book especially during the winter when the heater broke down and she would bundle up under her covers with her Gammy beside her and a cup of hot cocoa. Maya hadn't read it in years. Once Gammy had passed away, they'd donated all her books to a children's hospital as she requested in her will.

She walked over to the couch, sitting down and smiling as she opened it.

~.~.~

Maya was pretty deep in the book when she heard the jingle of keys in the lock and the apartment door opened. Lucas walked in shortly after with his briefcase and lab coat folded over his arm, clearly looking tired and if she really thought about it, a little somber. Maya put the book down on the couch and stood up, smiling in greeting when he turned and saw her.

"How's Anna?" he asked, dropping his things on one of the loveseats.

"She's fine. I made her some soup and then she went to sleep. Hasn't made a peep since."

"That's good to hear." He made his way across the room towards Anna's bedroom door. "Thanks again for watching her."

"It's no problem at all. Also, I made too much soup. There's some on the stove if you're hungry."

It wasn't lost on her that the whole situation reeked of a wife and husband scenario, but she pushed the thought out of her head quickly. This was all Riley's fault for putting weird ideas in her head.

"I'll definitely take you up on that offer. Thanks."

Lucas sounded like he was speaking on autopilot and his response was a little absentminded. Maya wondered if work had really drained him because he seemed like he had no energy whatsoever.

He pushed open Anna's door, standing in the doorway with Maya and watching her fondly as she slept.

"She's a pretty calm sleeper," Maya said. "It's so different from her normal rowdiness."

Lucas sighed. "It's a miracle, isn't it? I can never get her this quiet normally."

They stood in the doorway in silence for a little while longer, lost in their own thoughts.

"Do you think I failed her?" Lucas muttered absentmindedly, sounding like he was thinking out loud.

But Maya had heard it loud and clear.

She frowned, glancing up at him. "You're being way too hard on yourself. You didn't fail her. And at least you're trying. Sure, she probably wanted you here, but Anna is a sensible girl. She's smart. She understands the situation. She'll be just as happy to see you when she wakes up."

As soon as the words left Maya's lips, Anna shifted in her bed, her face twisting a bit. A tear trailed down her cheek and Maya realised that she was crying in her sleep.

"…Mo…mmy…" she mumbled. "Mo…mmy…"

Lucas froze entirely, bristling from her words, a pained expression on his face as he watched Anna. Even Maya was really alarmed. She hadn't been expecting that at all. She'd suspected that Anna wasn't being completely honest before, and it looked like she was right. Maya couldn't believe she'd missed the signs. Of course Anna wanted her mother. She was pretty vulnerable right now, and honestly, Maya knew how it felt to want a comforting presence in one's mother.

Maya moved past Lucas and headed over to Anna's bedside, crouching beside her.

"…Mo…mmy…"

"Mommy is here…" Maya murmured soothingly, stroking Anna's cheek and shushing her gently. "It's okay, Anna Banana. Mommy's here…"

Anna sniffled again, but her lips curved up into a small smile and she quieted, relaxing in the covers as her breathing grew deep once again. Maya waited until she was sure Anna had calmed down before slowly rising to her feet. Letting out a long breath, she turned back around, glancing at Lucas in slight embarrassment. She hoped he would understand that she'd done what she had to do for Anna, but it wasn't like it was supposed to mean anything subliminally. Lucas looked a little shellshocked, the expression in his eyes hard to read. It reminded her of the look he'd given her after he'd walked her home after the Little League tryouts.

"Maya…"

Maya could feel her cheeks beginning to burn with a blush from his unwavering gaze, a slight fluttering in her stomach from the way he was watching her.

"Do you think this has happened before?" she asked quickly, cutting off whatever he was about to say.

She didn't know how she would or could respond to any questions, especially if he asked her _why_.

"I don't know." Lucas walked over to Anna and bent down, kissing her forehead gently. He fixed up the placement of the ice pack on her head before he stood up and left the room with Maya. "I've never heard Anna mention her mother before. I wonder what exactly she was dreaming about for that to happen…"

Maya wouldn't put it past Anna. The girl was incredibly clever and clearly very adept at effortlessly hiding her concerns and burdens. To think she'd already developed that kind of mindset easily at such a young age. She was headed down a fast trajectory of trying to bottle everything up and Maya knew firsthand how that kind of life was guaranteed to lead to struggles in her teen years.

"She told me earlier that she doesn't really remember her mother."

"I wouldn't expect her to," Lucas said, suddenly looking utterly exhausted and melancholic.

He had this far off look on his face, a glazed over look that made him look like he was in pain. Clearly there was something grave weighing on his mind. Something that he probably would prefer to deal with in privacy. Maya was starting to feel that maybe she'd overstayed her welcome a bit. This was getting a little too personal now. It was time for her to leave for sure.

Maya picked up the book from the couch and moved to put it away on the bookshelf. In her haste, she accidentally dropped it on the carpet near Lucas. He looked down at it, an odd, slightly unhappy expression on his face as he bent to pick it up. Maya wondered if he was peeved by her negligence or the fact that she'd snooped through his bookshelf.

"Crap, I'm sorry," she apologized quickly. "I shouldn't have even touched your stuff. I just haven't read that book in a long time and it was my favourite when I was a kid so I thought I'd read it while I waited."

"It's fine," Lucas said slowly, opening the front cover and staring at the inside of it. "I just… I forgot I still had it."

"What do you mean?"

"This was Sophia's favourite book too." Lucas lifted up the cover, showing Maya the choppy handwriting of a name written in glittery ink. It said Sophia Sidwell. Maya must have missed it when she'd started reading. "My wife. Ex-wife now, I guess."

"I didn't mean to uh… remind you of your ex." This whole evening had turned into one big awkward mess. "You know what? I should just go."

"You didn't do anything wrong," Lucas assured her as he put it back into a place on the bookshelf. "Besides, deep down, I think I always knew our marriage wasn't going to last too long."

"Did the divorce hit you hard?" Maya asked.

She didn't know why she'd asked him the question, but there was this proverbial dark raincloud hanging over his head, and Maya couldn't help but feel like she was responsible. Plus, she'd seen what Katy's divorces had done to her morale over the years. Part of her just wanted him to cheer up if she could help at all.

"Wasn't a divorce." Lucas stared out the window, his brows furrowed. "Sophia passed away."

Maya was sure her breath caught in her chest. Why had she just assumed? And now, no doubt, she'd reopened what was probably a pretty bad wound.

"Oh my God… I shouldn't have asked… I'm so sorry."

"It's okay." He turned and gave her a small, barely there smile, the kind of smile that Maya herself would use to get people off her back when they showed her any kind of pity. It was a diversion technique. It clearly wasn't okay, and she felt bad for asking that question. "My mom had been warning me for some time that it was inevitable that I'd lose her pretty quickly. I chose to ignore it. That's love for you."

He sat down on the couch, sighing as he loosened up his tie and tossed it over the back of the couch. Maya didn't know how she knew, but something about the way he'd responded made her realise that maybe he wanted to talk to someone about it. Maybe he was tired of getting pity. Maybe he just needed someone to listen to him. She slowly sat down beside him, feeling a little weird. She wasn't really sure what to say. Especially not to someone she didn't really know.

"I uh, wouldn't know. Can't relate," Maya said. "But I do think that it's really sweet that you stuck with her despite the odds. Sounds like you were really happy together."

"Wait, what do you mean by 'wouldn't know'? About love?" Lucas stared at her, looking pretty surprised.

"Yeah. It's not an option for me right now. I'm… dealing with some things in life."

Maya couldn't find happiness for herself when she had yet to atone for ruining her child's life. She didn't deserve to be loved or to love when she should have loved the baby she gave up enough to fight to keep her.

"Oh. I kind of thought you were in a relationship right now."

Maya frowned in confusion. "Why?"

He scratched the back of his head, chuckling a bit nervously. "No reason. You're just… uh, attractive. So I assumed, you know… that you had a boyfriend."

"Oh." Maya could feel her cheeks heat up the slightest bit. "No. Not since before college."

"I see."

They both grew uncomfortably silent, Lucas staring at the ceilinged and Maya counting the rhinestones on her heels to keep from fidgeting. She wasn't particularly uneasy, but she did feel kind of sheepish after he'd complimented her. She could never understand why people called her attractive. It certainly wasn't the way she saw herself.

"So, uh… How long had you been with Sophia?" Maya asked, trying to break the short spell of tense silence. "If you don't mind me asking."

"We were close friends all through high school and dated in college. But she was always a pretty sickly person. Usually in the hospital because of some sickness or another." He leaned his head against the back of the couch, a nostalgic look on his face. "She had a pretty severe congenital immunodeficiency disorder. The doctors could never really figure out what to do about her or whether she would even make it each time she was admitted. So naturally we got married right after college."

"You didn't know how much time she had left. What happened?"

He nodded. "She got worse as the years continued. The week she passed away, I had just gotten a new job at a clinic and was gone all day. Anna was at a day care. We never even realised Sophia had pneumonia until it got really bad. She was coughing that morning and kept telling me she was fine, so I left. She passed out in our apartment and when I came home, she was barely breathing."

"I lost her within twenty-four hours." He sighed, staring down at his hands. "I had trouble getting back on my feet after that. The regrets kept piling on and on. I kept thinking that if I had gotten home sooner, if I had stayed home, if I had kept pressing if she was actually okay, if I had done _something_ different, maybe I'd still have her. I don't know… it was like I lost a piece of myself."

Maya knew exactly what it was like experiencing loss. When she gave up her baby. When her Gammy died. She'd still never recovered after all these years. She could understand why Lucas was still stowing over it.

"I put in more work hours because I needed the distraction. Taking care of a child and trying to handle my grief at the same time wasn't working out right." Lucas turned to face her. "You asked me earlier today if I was okay. I wouldn't say I'm not necessarily, but today is our wedding anniversary."

That explained why he'd had such a packed schedule today. He'd done it so he could keep himself busy so that he wouldn't have to think about it. Maya wasn't sure how healthy that was though. He wasn't really acknowledging the problem. He was avoiding it, and eventually it would pop up again and slap him in the face.

"…How are you doing right now?"

"Handling it the way I normally do. Immersing myself in my work as usual," he explained. "After Sophia died, Austin got hard to live in so I moved us to New York. I tried to be a father, but people grieve in weird ways, and I guess I hadn't quite been done yet, hence the workaholic dad stage. That's why I'm glad you brought up my negligence when you did. I could have really messed up and ruined my relationship with Anna."

"You're a good father, Lucas, if not a little neglecting at times. But I think you'll get the hang of it one day." Her phone beeped in her pocket and Maya glanced at it, noticing the time and that Riley was texting her wondering where she was. "…It's getting late."

"Maya."

She looked at him, a little taken aback by the sincerity in his sea-foam green eyes.

"Yeah?"

Lucas hesitated for a second. "…You told me once that you grew up with your mother barely being there."

Maya stiffened, though she nodded slowly, trying to figure out why he was bringing it up now. "Yeah."

"I don't know what it's like for a girl to miss her mother, but if it's anything like the way my dad was emotionally absent in my life, I understand completely how hard it is." His fists clenched, a frown on his face. "And the more I think about the way I was with Anna, the more I realise I had difficulties being a father because I don't have a good example to pull from. And it makes me ashamed to think I almost became him."

"Lucas." She put her hand on top of his, giving him a gentle squeeze. "The fact that you're taking a different stance now, that you're trying to find a way to reconnect with your daughter already makes you a better father than yours ever was. That's the difference between a bad parent and a good one. The good ones try. Stop beating yourself up. You'll do better and one day, you might just win the father of the year award."

He met her gaze, a small smile on his face that made his eyes dance in warmth. "Thank you. For listening. And for helping me with Anna. I owe you."

They fell silent for a moment, staring at each other. Maya wasn't sure what was going through his mind, but the look he was giving her made her a little jittery. It was hard to tear her gaze away, especially since his eyes were really nice to look at.

The moment was broken when her phone suddenly rang once again, alerting her to another text. Maya blinked, breaking eye contact and pulling her hand away with a nervous laugh.

"Anyway, I should probably head home. Leaving Riley alone for extended periods of time isn't a good idea." Maya stood up swiftly, running a hand through her hair and hoping she didn't look as frantic as she felt. "Make sure to take Anna's temperature in a few hours."

Lucas chuckled, standing up too. "Give me some credit. I know how to take care of a basic cold."

"Alright." Maya drawled. "I'm just making sure you don't feed her ice cream or something."

Lucas rolled his eyes goodnaturedly. "You'll never let me live that down, will you?"

Maya picked up her jacket from the couch, putting it on. "Lucas, don't overwork yourself, okay? I get that working is your escape, but if you work too much, you'll make yourself sick."

"I'll consider it," Lucas said, walking with her to the door. "Do you want a ride back to your place?"

"No, I'm fine taking the subway." Plus if Riley saw her leaving from Lucas' car, the third degree interrogation would never end. And if she found out Maya was at Lucas' apartment of all places, her imagination would spiral out of control. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Maya," he said softly, opening the door for her.

She smiled in thanks and rushed on her way out and down the hallway, her heels clicking loudly from her brisk pace to get the heck out of there. She felt a little too fidgety for some reason, and she knew a lot of it had to do with the way the evening had ended. Helping him with Anna hadn't been such a bad thing in general, but something about her staying longer than she'd intended had felt a little too personal. Not to mention pretending to be Anna's mom for a few seconds.

She was crossing some sort of line, for sure. But she would never do that again.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: This chapter gets a little cheesy lolol, but I loooooove cheesy moments. Last "set up" chapter because we're switching gears now. Things are going to move faster from here on out :)  
**

 **Hi GryffindorHearts! Aww you're so sweet! It's something I considered once upon a time, but I still have a lot to learn and improve on and life gets in the way so often :/ I think I'm going to wait until I'm done with all schooling and then figure out if I still have that interest :3**

 **Thank you for the reviews! I appreciate them a lot and I thank you for taking time out of your busy days to drop a comment! It's always a lot of fun to read what you have to say! You guys are the greatest! If I can help provide an escape in some way for you guys, I will! :D**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Girl Meets World, but… eh I got nothing…**

* * *

Maya stepped onto the chair and stapled another macaroni math project onto the top row of the classroom bulletin board outside of the room. She just wanted to get the day over and done with. Today hadn't started well at all and it didn't help that she hadn't gotten any further on her search for her baby in a week. It was draining her morale.

"Your picture looks silly." Maya heard Mark say.

"No it doesn't!"

Maya sighed when Anna's indignant voice carried out of the classroom. It'd been a week since Anna had gotten sick and the minute she'd returned to school a few days ago, Mark had been nonstop bugging her. Anna generally ignored him or retorted something that made him pipe down, but this was the thousandth time that day he'd tried to pick on her and it was only a matter of time before an actual argument ensued.

Maya had been hoping arts and crafts time could be more calm and quiet. She was developing a small headache after Riley couldn't sleep the night before and kept her up all night because she wanted company. Maya was too exhausted to deal with bickering children right now. She could tell clearly that Mark had a crush on Anna, but clearly he didn't get that being mean to her was not the way to impress her, especially since Anna tended to fight back.

"You can't draw Miss Hart in your picture just because you don't have a mommy! She's not _your_ mommy, stupid!"

"I didn't draw Miss Hart, you dumdum head!"

"Hey! No name calling, you two." Maya scolded, leaning inside the classroom and peering at her students.

They all quickly returned to colouring their own pictures and the murmuring and hushed lull of a burgeoning fight dissipated. Anna and Mark were glaring at each other though and Maya wondered if it had been a terrible idea to put them at the same table. She rotated the seating chart biweekly so all the students would get a chance to get to know one another by the end of the year, but those two had been troublemakers since the beginning of the year every time they sat near each other. She knew their argument was far from done and they looked like they were gearing up to continue it, despite her attempt to stop it.

"I mean it, you two. You can have a _healthy_ and quiet discussion without insulting each other."

Maya went back to her work, sighing in relief when it seemed like she'd quelled the tension. She could hear the students chatting calmly in the room. But it didn't last, because a handful of seconds later, it started up again.

"You're the dumdum head!" Mark hissed.

"Yeah?" Anna yelled. "And you're a wiener, and I'm better at baseball than you!"

"No you're not!" Mark yelled back.

"Yeah huh!"

"You two stop this right now!" Maya called into the classroom.

They ignored her.

"No you're not!"

"Yes I am!"

"Yeah, she's better than you!" Romina piped up. "She got a home run yesterday, and you didn't."

Maya frowned and stopped stapling the macaroni projects on the board as she listened to the worsening argument. She'd been hoping they both would cool off a little, but she could tell this was about to get bad fast. Especially since other kids were now clearly joining in. She carefully got off the chair, setting the remaining projects and stapler down to intervene and diffuse the situation before someone's feelings really got hurt.

"So what?" Randy threw in. "The pitcher went easy on her cuz she's just a stupid girl."

Maya heard a chair scraping loudly on the floor.

"Take it back!" Anna shouted.

"No!"

"Take it back, you, you… you _ass_!"

Maya didn't clearly hear what Anna said because she'd said the end of her sentence fairly quietly, but from the collective gasps from the other kids and the way the argument and noise died quite suddenly, she knew it wasn't a good word.

"Oooooh! I'm telling on you!" Randy shouted.

"What is going on here?"

Maya marched into the classroom and every kid turned to her, wide eyed, jittery, and buzzing with the energy of kids who had witnessed something taboo. Anna was standing with her fists clenched by her side, an angry flush to her cheeks.

"Anna said a bad word!" Randy screamed at the top of his lungs, pointing an accusing finger at her.

"He called me stupid!" she cried indignantly.

"Well she is!" Mark said. "She drew you in her picture! And we're supposed to draw our family."

Maya glanced at the drawing Mark was gesturing to on the table. There was a rough coloured pencil drawing of a tall man with green circles for eyes and a little blonde girl with wild, curly hair and blue circles for eyes. Beside her was a rainbow coloured, polka dot dog. And at the top of the page was another figure, this one a blonde woman with long hair and blue eyes. If Maya was honest, it really did seem like her which was surprising in and of itself. Had Anna drawn her?

"Mark, you're all allowed to draw whatever you want in your family pictures. There are no guidelines," Maya responded. She turned to the girl in question, whose face was starting to twist up in the way Maya knew was impending tears. "Anna, what did you call Randy just now?"

She clammed up, her eyes tearing up and lower lip quivering a bit as she shook her head rapidly. Maya crouched down in front of her, looking her in the eye seriously.

"Anna, what did you call him?" she asked calmly. "Tell me the truth."

"She called me the A word!" Randy said loudly.

"Only because you and Mark kept calling her stupid!" Romina argued. "I was there Miss Hart! I saw the whole thing!"

"Anna, that's not a nice word," Maya said sternly. "We don't say things like that in this classroom. That's a time out from recess for a week."

"You're gonna get kicked out of school, Anna!" Randy said.

"Randy, stop it. This ends _now_ , okay? I want you all to apologize to each other. Mark, what do you have to say to her?"

"I'm sorry I called you stupid," Mark said in annoyance.

"Randy?"

"…Fine." He pouted, looking put off. "I'm sorry I called you stupid too."

"And what do you have to say to Mark and Randy, Anna?"

She swallowed thickly, sniffling the slightest bit, but didn't say a word, crossing her arms in front of her chest and frowning at the ground. Clearly she wasn't planning on complying today.

"Anna."

She looked up then, and Maya could already see a familiar defiance in her red rimmed eyes before she even opened her mouth. Maya knew that she was about to say something that wasn't anywhere near an apology.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that _you're_ stupid dweeby boys!"

There were more gasps from the other students and Maya pinched the bridge of her nose, letting out a breath slowly from the renewed problem.

"Anna! That is unacceptable."

She stuck her tongue out at both boys and turned away from them petulantly. Maya sighed in exhaustion. This was not the day she wanted the kids to fight, and Anna to decide to be as stubborn as all get out. She tended to have days were she didn't listen as well as she should, but she wasn't usually this aggressive or combative. Something clearly was bothering Anna if she refused to apologize and even continued to provoke the others.

"Anna, go sit in your seat," Maya said. "You and I need to talk."

The other kids were dead quiet, staring at each other wide eyed, some in concern. Anna stomped over to her seat, plopping down with a lot of noise and slumping in her chair. There was a moment where no one really moved, the room silent as if waiting for a pin to drop.

Maya turned to address the kids. "The rest of you, it's almost time for gym. Who's line leader this week?"

Emily raised her hand.

"Good. Emily, you know what to do. Take everybody down the hallway for bathroom break before Coach Morris comes here to pick you up. No horsing around in the bathroom, okay? If anyone talks or plays in the line, let me know."

The kids lined up fairly quickly, everyone on pins and needles and not wanting to also get in trouble. Following Emily, they quietly left the room, many of them turning around and staring at Anna and trying to see what was going to happen. Maya waited until they all had cleared the room before she walked over to Anna's table. She pulled out the seat next to her, sitting down and facing her. Anna kept her eyes on the table, trying to hold back her tears through her sulking.

"Alright, Anna. What's going on with you? This isn't like you."

"Am… A-am I in trouble, Miss Hart?" she said in a quiet voice.

"You know the answer to that. Using bad words in our class is unacceptable and calling a classmate something like that is never okay no matter how angry you are, Anna," Maya replied. "I have to call your father about this."

She sniffled. "He made fun of my picture."

"I know it made you mad, but that's no excuse to call someone a word like that, do you understand?" She nodded, her lower lip quivering. "It doesn't matter what he said about your picture. There are other ways to express your anger."

Then again, Maya did feel like she was being a hypocrite telling her not to call people names when she'd done the very same thing to Lucas for questioning her abilities as a teacher the first time they'd met. And that didn't even account for all the names she would call people through her youth, especially when she was in elementary school.

"I know he made fun of you, but don't let it get to you. Have confidence in your work. Even if you did draw me it's—"

"But I didn't draw you! That's my mommy!" Anna said emphatically, her voice cracking and eyes welling with more tears as she turned to Maya, imploring her to believe her. "Daddy said she's with the angels. And, and, and everyone else at my table had a mommy in their picture, and I wanted to draw mine too. I-I was going to make her an angel in the sky."

"Anna…" Maya's heart sank as she watched the tears start to trail down Anna's cheeks, crouching to her knees in front of her chair and cupping her cheek. "Do you wish you had your mother at home with you?"

Anna hesitated, chewing on her lower lip. She nodded slowly, her face contorting as she broke down and started crying. And Maya's heart broke into pieces looking at her pain-stricken face.

"Oh sweetie… Come here."

Anna got off her chair and wrapped her arms around Maya's neck, her face buried in Maya's shoulder as she sobbed. Maya held her, stroking her back and rocking her gently. She felt so small and vulnerable in Maya's arms. How long had she been holding this in for? She had to have been bottling it up for quite a while for it to all come out this way. She acted so tough that sometimes even Maya forgot that she was a little girl whose mother died right when she was starting to forge an innate connection with her.

"What happened?" Maya asked when she calmed down a little bit.

"M-Mischa Cooper in Miss Patel's class is having a Teatime With Mommy party next weekend," Anna blubbered, her shoulders shaking as she cried, "a-and she said I wasn't invited because I-I don't have a mommy, a-and she doesn't want to get my No Mommy cooties."

Maya was thrown back to elementary and junior high memories of being the only girl left out of father-daughter events and dances. She knew how bad it had hurt. It was a feeling of raw pain and uselessness, and one that Maya 100% knew felt like crap. She'd always seen herself as less important and less loved than her classmates and watching everyone else with their fathers had been a source of pain for her well into high school. Sure, she had people who watched out for her who became her pseudo fathers and mentors, but it still didn't change the fact that she'd wanted _her_ father and not having him in her life made her feel inadequate compared to the other kids. She'd always thought she wasn't a _real_ kid. The memories were still painful to this day, and it had taken her the better part of her young adult years to finally stop seeing herself as lacking. Seeing Anna this way, it was like Maya was reliving those heartbreaking memories all over again.

"…Anna, listen to me." Maya stroked her head soothingly, trying to help her calm down. "First of all, you don't have any cooties, okay?"

She held Anna slightly away so she could look her in the eye. Maya wanted her to know she was entirely sincere with what she would say next. She'd never had anybody to say anything to her when she'd been struggling with those feelings, but Anna had her. And she was going to make sure she was there for Anna.

"And second, I want you to know that not having a mother around doesn't make you any less of a person. It doesn't make you inferior to anyone else, and it certainly doesn't change the fact that people still love you immensely," Maya continued, wiping away a couple of the tears on her red cheeks. "Just because you only have a single parent in your household doesn't mean that you can't achieve the same things as anyone else. The only thing you lack is your mother, nothing more."

Anna sniffled, nodding her head as she wiped her nose with her sleeve.

Maya smiled. "Do you want to know something about me that none of your classmates know?"

She stared at Maya, a curiosity in her watery gaze.

"It'll be our little secret, okay?" Maya held out her pinkie finger. "You promise you won't tell, Anna Banana?"

Anna's eyes widened slightly, and she nodded more rapidly, linking her pinkie finger to Maya's. They shook them.

"I'm in the No Daddy club." Maya whispered conspiratorially. "I don't have a father anymore."

She gasped slightly. "But you're a teacher. I thought all teachers had both their mommy and daddy?"

"That's a misperception."

Maya thought it was a little amusing how kids didn't tend to see their teachers as normal human beings with lives outside of their job.

"A misper… misperspectors? Huh?"

"Misperception. An assumption that is mistaken or misunderstood based off of some internal notion, but not necessarily based on fact." Maya explained, chuckling a bit at her mistaking the word. "In fact, a lot of people don't have Mommy _and_ Daddy living with them. Your friend Amber for example. Does she live with both her mommy and daddy?"

Anna shook her head. "But she still has a mommy."

"Very true. But do you see that not all families are perfect? Just because a family doesn't have two parents doesn't mean it's not a family. Even families that may look perfect on the outside might not be perfect either," Maya said. "Let me ask you something. Do you think I have No Daddy cooties?"

"No."

"Am I less of a person?"

Anna shook her head.

"What do you think of me?"

"You're really nice, Miss Hart. And you're really pretty. And you're really smart and really cool."

"All things that you are too, Anna Banana. You're a sweet girl, caring, strong, intelligent," Maya replied, smiling warmly when Anna blushed a bit. "Do you get my point? I lived with only my mom. And you live with only your dad. But your value— _our_ value—is in who we are as people. Not what we have. You have a lot of worth and your life has so much value. Never forget that."

"Yes, Miss Hart."

"I know it hurts to not have your mom, but instead of focusing on it and letting it or anyone else hurt you with it, cherish all that you do have. Because you still have all these wonderful people and things in your life." Maya cupped Anna's cheeks, stroking them gently. "Nothing could ever take the place of my father, but I still had a lot to be thankful for. And I was. I was very thankful for what I did and do have."

Including the blessing that was her baby. Until she messed that up and gave away the bundle of joy that she'd loved for nine months.

Anna nodded. "Thank you, Miss Hart."

"If you ever need to talk, you can always come to me, okay? I'll listen.

"I will." Anna rubbed her eyes with her fists, sniffling brokenly. "I'm sorry I didn't listen to you, Miss Hart. And that I used a bad word."

"The ones you should apologize to are Randy and Mark." Maya stood up, taking both her hands. "Can you do that for me? You hurt their feelings too, you know?"

"Okay," she said, looking remorseful. "Miss Hart… Can I go home?"

Maya figured she would want to after an afternoon like that. She could hear footsteps in the hallway and the quiet chattering of her students returning to class.

"I'll ask your father when I call him. In the meantime, think about what you're going to say to the boys."

The kids came back into the classroom, their eyes all zoning in on the red nosed Anna, trying to see what the aftermath of the confrontation was. She kept her gaze away from the students, still sniffling erratically as she wiped her eyes and nose with the sleeve of her sweater.

"See what you did!" Romina said to Mark and Randy, gesturing to Anna. "You boys made her cry and now she's never coming back!"

"Miss Hart, Carlos and Addie kept talking in line even though I kept telling them to shush," Emily said. "And Damion and Tyler kept trying to give each other wedgies."

"Tattletale…" Damion muttered.

"Teacher's pet," Tyler added.

"Hey now. No more of this name calling. I've had enough for one day. Anyone who calls someone else another name is getting timeout from recess today. Now line up for gym. Coach Morris will be here any second." They stopped talking quickly, hurrying to straighten up their line. Maya bent down and helped Anton whose pants zipper was still open. "Emily, thank you for letting me know. Those of you who had been playing around or talking during bathroom break, you're going to sit out of recess for five minutes."

There were unhappy groans from the ones who had broken the rules, and Maya felt bad. Maya hated to dole out punishments to any of the students, especially this many in one day, but she had to maintain discipline in her classroom.

"Miss Hart?" Mark said, looking kind of scared. "Is Anna okay? I didn't mean to hurt her feelings."

Randy fidgeted uncomfortably. "She's not going to get kicked out of school, is she?"

"Boys, Anna's not going to get kicked out." Maya smiled, crouching down and taking both their hands. "She's just going to go home early. Thank you for checking up on her."

"Are we in trouble?"

"Both of you are also sitting out of recess today for calling her names. I want you to use the time to reflect on why calling people names is not okay."

They nodded in understanding.

"Good." Maya stood up. "Now Anna, do you have something you want to say?"

She scuffed her shoe on the floor, hanging her head and staring at the ground. "I'm sorry for calling you a bad word, Randy… And I'm sorry for calling you a dumdum head, Mark."

"I don't want a repeat of this to ever happen again," Maya told her class. "And that goes for all of you. The name calling has got to stop."

Though she knew it was only a matter of time before it started up again once the fear of this situation wore off. It was just about that time of fall when the students had been with each other long enough that they grew more comfortable with each other and in class. They'd already pretty much developed their classroom friend groups and enemies and Maya knew the harmony of the class when they had all been new and scared had now dwindled. The problems would only increase from here on out and she'd have to find a way to keep the peace as best as possible, especially when she had pretty zealous and energetic students.

" _Yes, Miss Hart_."

"I'm glad you guys understand." Coach Morris waved from outside the classroom, and Maya nodded in greeting. "Time for gym class. Have fun. When you get back, we'll be practicing our multiplication, okay?"

"Okay kids!" Coach Morris said. "Ready to play with the hula hoops?"

The class followed him out of the room, many of them still turning around to see what was going to happen with Anna. Maya knew it was the default morbid curiosity of children. For some reason, they equated someone getting into trouble in class with going to jail.

Once they were gone, Maya turned to Anna.

"Alright. Let's call your dad."

~.~.~

Maya was scrubbing some glue off of one of the tables when Lucas walked into her classroom, glancing around and looking for Anna.

"You're here."

"Hey." He greeted. "Where's Anna? You made it sound like something bad happened."

He'd wanted to know the situation, but Maya had told him it would be better if she addressed the entire thing with him in person. All she'd told him was that Anna wanted to come home early and he had promised he would pick her up.

"Something kind of bad did happen. She's at the front office waiting for you to sign her out for the day."

"So what happened?" Lucas asked, leaning against the corner of her desk. "It's not like Anna to want to go home because she got in trouble."

"Well she's not exactly herself today…" Maya sighed.

His brows furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I'll tell you, but first. Lucas, do you curse a lot around Anna by any chance?"

He looked a little guilty. "I can't say that I haven't. But I try not to curse in general, especially when she's around. Why?"

"Anna called someone an ass today."

Lucas didn't react to her comment at first, staring at her as if trying to consider if she was telling the truth or not. Then he snorted and started chuckling, shaking his head in amusement.

Maya glowered at him. "Lucas, that's not funny."

"I'm sorry. You just said it so seriously and your expression..."

"It is serious!" she said in exasperation, tossing a crumpled ball of paper at him. Lucas caught it, a small amused smile on his face. "Children pick up the language their parents use. She already knows the F word because you use it when something goes wrong. Do you see what I'm saying? She's already figured out that the connotation of the F word is for something bad that happened. And soon enough, she'll start using it when something bad happens."

"Was it unprovoked? Her using ass."

"Someone made fun of her. But unprovoked or not, she's seven, Lucas. There are other kids in my classroom—other seven year old kids—who will pick up bad words from her if she keeps using them. Other kids who will say it at home or tell their parents or even ask what the word means. This doesn't just affect Anna. It'd be one thing if she was in junior high, but she's in second grade."

Lucas' amused look dwindled, a slight look of alarm on his face.

"You never realised that?" Maya rose a brow. "No offence, but you're kind of clueless, you know?"

She knew it was kind of a mean thing to say, but she was on edge from the events of the day and agitated from her growing headache. Anna's melancholy had opened Maya's old wounds and made her relive the childhood memories she'd wanted nothing more than to shove out of her head. And to top it off, for some reason, she felt kind of antsy around Lucas and it didn't help that she could feel his gaze on her as she bustled about to fix the room up for the multiplication bingo when they got back from gym.

"Hey, I take full offence at that." Lucas rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm still rusty on this parenting thing. But it's not like I go around dropping bad words left and right. I barely curse."

"Is there anyone else other than you who Anna might be picking up some words from? Mrs. Coleman maybe?"

"I highly doubt Mrs. Coleman is the culprit. She's as prim and proper as they…" He looked like he had an epiphany. "Oh… I think I know where she got it from. Zay. He's a vet tech at the clinic. He watches Anna from time to time if I'm working late and need to bring her to the office with me."

"Is he a potty mouth?"

"…Yeah."

"Then you'd better ask her just how extended her vocabulary has become."

"I'm sorry about this. I take full responsibility."

"Good. You should," Maya said, glancing at him. "But that's not the reason she wanted to go home. Lucas, I think she's been struggling with the fact that she doesn't have a mother a lot more than she's let on. Last week when she was crying in her sleep? That should have clued both of us in."

Lucas' expression grew serious. "What happened today that has her wanting to go home?"

"Someone didn't invite her to a party simply because she doesn't have a mother. I know it might not sound severe, but as a kid, being excluded for a reason like that stings and cuts into your self-esteem and self-worth."

"No I get it." Lucas sighed. "And this happened today?"

"I think so. Anyway, I had the students draw pictures of their families today." Maya picked up the drawing, walking over to Lucas and handing it to him before going back to her task at hand. The kids would be done with gym in about a quarter of an hour. "Some kids made fun of her because they thought she drew me. As you would expect, Anna being headstrong, she fought back, the situation escalated, and here we are. She told me she was drawing her mother as an angel."

"…I didn't know Anna remembered what she looked like." He stared at it pensively.

"Like I said, I think Anna remembers and notices a lot more than she lets on. She's an incredibly bright child and very perceptive. And I think from an early age, she's been practicing bottling in her feelings and pretending everything is okay. She wants her mother, that much is clear."

"How much do you think she remembers?"

"I don't know. You'll have to figure that out, but all I know is that poor Anna was an emotional wreck today and it was heartbreaking to watch her cry." Maya paused in putting the coloured pencil bin back in its storage place. "I don't know if I even helped, but I hope I did something to alleviate her pain."

Lucas folded up the picture and put it in his pocket. "What did you say?"

"It reminded me of when I was a kid and how I struggled to find my worth. I kept wondering if I wasn't good enough for my dad to stay." Maya let out a long breath, her mind going back to those trying times. "I told her I didn't have a father growing up either. I tried to make sure she knew she had value because the rejection probably chipped at her self-esteem. I wish I could do more for her, but…"

"I'm sure you did plenty. It sounds to me like that's probably exactly what she needed to hear." Lucas supplied. "You grew up without your father around too?"

"Yeah," Maya muttered unhappily as she started gathering the extra paper on one of the tables, nearly crumpling them with the force of her motions. "The selfish jerk left our family when I was seven… He tried to make amends when I was fourteen, and I basically kicked him out of my life—"

"Maya."

"—I told him I didn't forgive him for leaving us. Two months later, he overdosed on narcotics. Ironic, isn't it? I told him I'd never forgive him as long as he lived. And then he d—"

" _Maya_."

She didn't realise how badly her hand had been shaking until Lucas suddenly filled her line of sight and took her wrist to stop her. Maya inhaled sharply when she felt a jolt of electricity from his touch, nearly jumping out of her skin at his proximity. She hadn't seen him walk over to her in the first place.

"You don't have to talk about it if it brings up painful memories, Maya," he said, concern in his expression. "I didn't mean to pry. Are you okay?"

She glanced up, slowly meeting his gaze and letting out a long breath. "Uh, yeah…"

"Your hand is still shaking," he murmured, shifting his grip so his hand was gently enclosed around hers.

Maya felt goosebumps run up her arm, frozen in place from the warmth in his steady gaze. His eyes really were calming. She felt comforted, a lot less on edge and surprisingly relaxed.

At least until he smiled and her stomach fluttered.

She was suddenly very aware of how close they were, and what someone might think was going on if they walked through those doors. Hell, what if Riley walked through those doors that very second? She knew Maya's entire schedule and it wasn't uncommon for her to drop in unannounced.

"Better?"

She nodded, taking a step back and breaking eye contact, taking her hand out of his and immediately missing the warmth. "I'm fine. It was just an unpleasant time and I still don't think I'm ready to think about it. Anyway, you should get Anna home."

Maya walked out of the classroom with Lucas beside her, heading back to the front where Anna was waiting. She could feel him watching her and glanced at him, wondering what his expression was on his face. He looked like he was about to laugh, a small little amused smile on his lips. A suspiciously _annoying_ little amused smile.

"What?" Maya rose a brow. "What exactly is so amusing?"

"Nothing. I just didn't realise how shy you are sometimes." He shrugged, slipping his hands into his pockets. "It's cute."

Had he just…? Maya faced the front, heat flooding her face and she upped her pace, pretending she wasn't a little flustered by what he'd said. He easily matched her pace, his stroll more languid than hers as he chuckled.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were hitting on me," she said dryly.

He was quiet for a bit, their footsteps echoing down the hallway.

"I kind of was."

She stopped and turned at his answer, facing him with a quirked brow. Lucas stopped as well, his expression fairly neutral though she could still see the amused look dancing in his eyes.

"Was it necessary, Mr. Friar?" Maya snarked.

"I guess not since I've been demoted from first name basis." He chuckled. "You looked kind of stressed. I thought it would ease up the tension."

It didn't. Not that she would tell him why though.

Maya sighed, shaking her head and turning around to continue on their way. She didn't know if this was normal for him and what he considered his brand of joking around, but she didn't have time for antics. They rounded the corner and made their way to the front office where Anna was sitting on a chair in front of Mrs. Carpenter's desk, counting the marbles that were inside of a potpourri jar.

Maya could tell as soon as Lucas saw Anna's red nose and tear stained cheeks that all pretenses of joking around left his demeanor. He crouched in front of her immediately, brows furrowed in concern.

"Daddy, I wanna go home…" she mumbled, hugging her father.

"I know, Sugar Plum," he said softly, holding her gently as he stood up. She burrowed her head in the crook of his shoulder, looking to Maya for the first time like the pretty small, young child she still was. "Anna, if you're sad or bothered by something, you don't have to hide things from me. It's my job to be there for you. Why didn't you say anything to me about this?"

"Because I didn't want to give you problems," she said, her voice muffled in his shoulder. "Or worry you."

"Nothing you're going through could ever be a problem for me. I want you to talk to me, okay?" Lucas said. "I'm your father. I'm supposed to worry about you, but if you don't tell me what's wrong when something is wrong, how am I supposed to help you? Also, I'm disappointed in you for using a bad word. You know better, Anna."

"I'm sorry, Daddy. You're not mad at me, are you?"

"I'm not mad." He rubbed her back when she started sniffling again. "I just want you to think about the consequences of your actions. We don't want a repeat of last year, do we?"

"No…"

"What happened last year?" Maya asked.

"She had a small problem with biting the other kids," Lucas said, tucking one of Anna's loose coils behind her ear. She looked sheepish, hiding her face in Lucas' shoulder again. "It got to the point that the principal had me on speed dial."

Maya supposed there was a good chance Anna had been acting out her aggressions and anger back then too. The poor girl had been through a lot, and she wasn't even at double digits yet. Maya just wanted to protect her heart so she wouldn't have to go through more pain.

"What do you have to say to Ms. Hart, Anna?"

"I won't make trouble for you anymore, I promise," she said emphatically. "I'll be a good girl."

"You _are_ a good girl, Anna." Maya smiled, trying to let her know everything would be okay. "And I appreciate your sincerity."

Anna smiled for the first time since the incident occurred. Maya felt warmth in her chest, relief flooding her when the smile actually reached her eyes. There was nothing Maya wanted more than her students' happiness. She knew Anna probably wasn't quite okay yet, but being with her father had clearly helped her mood.

"Where's your stuff, Anna?" Lucas asked.

"It's in Miss Hart's classroom."

"Alright." Lucas set her down on the ground, tweaking her nose. "Go get your bag. You can stay with me at the office until it's time to go home."

"Can I play with the dogs?"

Lucas shook his head. "Absolutely not, Sugar Plum. You're still in trouble for using a bad word."

Anna groaned, pouting and slumping her shoulders. "You're no fun."

"Yeah, yeah…" He ruffled her hair, unfazed by her response. "I know."

Anna dragged her feet out of the office, heading down the hall back towards Maya's classroom. Maya was glad to see that she looked noticeably happier and more energetic.

"So are _we_ good, Maya?" Lucas asked Maya as he signed the early check-out log on Mrs. Carpenter's desk. Maya must have made a confused face because he chuckled to himself. "Am I forgiven for calling you cute… even though it's the truth?"

Maya stared at him, wondering if he was serious. He sounded genuine in his inquiry, but it definitely seemed like he was playing around.

"It depends." Maya crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Are you _still_ trying to hit on your daughter's teacher?"

Lucas set the pen down, turning around, and contemplated her silently for a few seconds, his expression pensive. Maya felt a little anxious under his gaze, unable to tell what could possibly be going through his mind and why he had even said that in the first place.

"Yeah," he said simply, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "Did I fail?"

Maya turned around before he could see the smile that was threatening to force its way on _her_ face.

"Do you always make it a habit to hit on teachers?"

"Oh yeah, definitely," Lucas said playfully. "It's been a lingering fantasy of mine since I was in high school."

" _Goodbye_ , Lucas." Maya made her way out of the office. "If you'll excuse me, I have a class that's about to return from gym."

She wasn't going to humour him when she didn't know what his motivations were for even bringing it back up again. She hoped Mrs. Carpenter wouldn't gossip to the other teachers about it because she was sure she'd seen the secretary watching the interaction with interest. The last thing she needed was rumours of a burgeoning romance when that would never happen. Maya had time for only one thing and that was finding her daughter.

Maya sighed, pulling out her wallet from her pocket and growing even more disappointed at the continued lack of success as she stared at the picture of her baby. She definitely needed a drink to wash away the day from her mind.

She tried not to become too discouraged with each failure, but Maya had been searching for years to no avail. It was starting to take its toll. She just needed a sign. One sign or something that would tell her she was on the right track. She just needed one thing to give her some hope because she didn't know how long she could carry on like this before people started to notice.

"I know you're out there somewhere…"


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: I'm so jetlagged. Damn this stupid time zone difference. My body is telling me I should be sleeping, but the sun just set outside! My sleep schedule is going to be messed up for days… 3_3 (This chapter will be revised eventually, sorry if it's a little choppy).  
**

 **To the Guest who mentioned the messages of the last chapter: Hi, love. I know exactly what you mean. Growing up, I didn't particularly have any real role models or anyone who could help me understand my value, so a lot of my childhood and early tween years, I spent thinking I had no worth for various reasons. I had to self teach myself to love myself, but I too had one great music mentor/teacher once who made me see that what I lacked in my life had nothing to do with the value I should see in myself as a person. I agree that teachers should drive this point home for all children, especially when they get to the point where they start to question their own worth when they compare themselves to their peers. I'm sorry about the relationship you have with your father :/ I can definitely relate; it's because of that that I grew up having little confidence in myself. If you ever want to PM or chat, my inbox is always open, chérie :)**

 **You guys have been such a comfort to me since I joined this site. I don't really know how to express my immense thanks and gratitude for you all. You're wonderful, special people to me and** **I just want you all to know that.** **:)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Girl Meets World, but… eh I got nothing…**

* * *

"Elliot, Suny, heads up! Maya's up at bat."

The two practicing catches in the outfield both took several steps back, but Maya didn't really pay attention to that, unconsciously tightening her grip on her bat and squatting a bit more to wait for the pitch.

Now that Maya knew with absolute certainty that Anna wasn't being honest about missing her mother, she'd decided to watch out for her more. She was a strong little girl, but Maya couldn't help but worry about her mental state. She didn't want to coddle Anna in any way—kids her age valued their independence and the chance to grow up and develop things on their own. But Maya knew what that kind of pining could do to her mentality and morale, and she wanted to help Anna avoid the painful and lonely childhood years she herself had had to experience.

Maya only hoped that by the Fall Fair that weekend, Anna's spirits would lift so she could enjoy herself more.

Tina tossed the pitch, and Maya swung hard on autopilot. The crack of the ball on her bat resounded through the air as it soared up and over all their heads, cascading past both outfielders before landing innocuously on the sidewalk nearby. It rolled a bit of a distance and then ended up falling in a large grate off the concrete that led to the sewers. Everyone groaned, turning to Maya with raised eyebrows.

"You know, I appreciate the effort you're putting in to kill it at the actual game, but do you mind toning your enthusiasm down a bit for now?" Tina walked over to her, wiping her brow of the sweat that had collected. "None of us are getting any real practice because you keep whacking the ball to different cities. You've been lost in thought the entire practice. What's up with you?"

"Sorry… class was just difficult today." Maya rubbed the back of her head.

"Well that was the last ball we brought to train with." Coach Morris walked over to where the other teachers were congregating. "The rest have disappeared to unknown locations."

Elise ran a hand through her hair. "Think we should just call it a night then? Fall fair is this weekend. At this rate, there's not really any more practicing we can do."

Maya sighed, smiling apologetically. "Sorry guys."

Maya felt bad. They hadn't collectively had that much time to practice since everyone's schedules couldn't line up to prepare for the parent versus teacher game. And when they could practice, it always had to be late at night in the park or at the community centre, provided that they weren't already occupied. This was their last day to practice—the first time they'd finally all been available for practice together too—and they'd barely gotten too much time in because of Maya's inability to focus.

"It's okay, Team Captain." Nina gave Maya a soft pat on her shoulder. "We all have those days. As long as we have fun at the game on Saturday, that's what counts. Make sure to keep that enthusiasm on Saturday though and knock 'em all out of the park."

"Any words for us, Cap'?"

"Right." Maya set her hands on her hips. "We may be underestimated because we're teachers, but those parents won't know what hit them. There's one hundred eighty dollars riding on this game. So have fun, but make sure we kick their butts."

They cheered and then dispersed to gather their belongings to head home for the day. Maya walked over to her bag by the park bench, sticking her bat in there and sighing in satisfaction as her back cracked as she bent over. Her body was a little sore, feeling unaccustomed to the strenuous work from the exercise, so it was a relief. One by one, each of the teachers left, saying their goodbyes and heading on their way home.

Maya couldn't lie that it felt good being on a team again after so many years off the field. There was just something exhilarating about the sport, something nostalgic that reminded Maya of her drive to succeed in her youth. The high energy of the game, the adrenaline pulsing through her veins, the team all working together to win. She'd given up softball after her Gammy died, and over time she'd forgotten what it was like to play.

It felt familiar. Like an old friend she'd lost contact with and finally reuniting after years of not talking.

"…are practicing at another field. Heard they've got some hot moms and dads on their team."

Tina's words drew her out of her daydream as she plopped on the bench beside her. Maya glanced at her curiously as she took off her sneakers to put on some flip flops. Maya preferred her heels to even out the height differences between her and pretty much everyone else, but her toes were kind of sore, and she would rather drag her feet around. It was a little chillier than she would have liked, but she pushed aside her slight displeasure in favour of comfort.

"Huh?"

"I said, the parent's team has some hot people on their team. They're practicing nearby here. Let's go _spy_ on them."

Maya snorted, raising a brow. "Okay _teenager_. Don't you think we're kind of too grown for that?"

"We're not anywhere near thirty yet. Live a little."

"You're married, Tina."

"I'm married, not dead. Eye candy is eye candy." She laughed. "Besides, we won't bother them. Let's just go check out their skills to see what we're up against."

She did have a bit of time to kill before she had to take her subway home.

"Alright. But I'm only going for recon." Maya stood up with her bag, smiling when Tina pumped her fist in the air.

They walked to the other side of the park where indeed the parent's team was practicing for the game on Saturday. There were quite a few dads on the team, who'd probably grown up playing baseball when they were younger, judging by their technique. There were some moms on the team too, who definitely had a lot of experience in the game. They were all in perfect sync, playing like a team who had been together for months.

"Damn…" Tina muttered when the shortstop did some crazy tuck and roll move just to get the ball. Even Maya had to admit she was impressed. "We don't stand a chance, do we? It's like a bunch of kids playing against seasoned professionals."

Maya leaned against one of the trees nearby. "Don't psych yourself out before we play. They could have just had more time to practice than we did."

But even though she said that, she didn't necessarily believe her own words. While the parent's team probably had had more time to practice together, each person looked like they were chosen to play specific positions based on their experience. Their pitcher was pretty precise, looking like she knew exactly where to target her tosses to affect how the batter attempted to hit the pitch. They had Billy Ross as catcher, one of Maya's classroom moms from two years ago was playing left field, Lucas on first. Most positions seemed catered to by someone who probably knew how to play it well whereas most of the teacher's team was made up of a ragtag group of volunteers who had free time on their hands but never really played. Not to mention, the parents had their own comfortable equipment that they were probably used to using for years whereas the teachers had to borrow some bats and gloves from the affiliated high school in their district.

"Well, I just lost ten bucks. And we all just lost one eighty." Tina sighed as the parents finished their practice. It was a sentiment Maya definitely understood well. "Alright, Maya. I'm going home. My husband's making me dinner tonight and I have to make sure he doesn't confuse sugar for salt again."

Maya chuckled. "See you tomorrow."

They gathered their things from their practice, the parents also leaving to go about their evenings as the day began to draw to a close. Maya was fixing to leave too, but she was a little worried about Anna and since Lucas was here, she figured she might as well ask him before he left for home.

He was walking in her general direction, speaking with Billy Ross as they headed over. He looked kind of funny with his hair plastered to his forehead from sweat, part of it sticking up at odd angles. Then again, she didn't really want to know what _she_ possibly looked like. Her hair was probably frizzy, maybe looking like a cat on her head even though she'd tried to tie it in as tight a ponytail as possible.

"If you're busy on Friday, I can pick Anna up with Amber after the Fall Fair," Billy said as they walked towards their own bags. "Amber wanted her to come over. I can bring her back on Saturday."

"I'd appreciate it. Thanks," Lucas said gratefully. "Anna wanted me to come, but I can't get time off work."

"Hey, no problem, man. I'll see you on Saturday." Billy grabbed his bag from the bench before clapping Lucas on the back and heading on his way. "We keep playing like that, and we'll definitely beat those teachers."

"Count on it." Lucas chuckled, waving as Billy left.

Maya waited until Lucas had gotten his sweatshirt on and gotten his glove and bat into his bag before she made her presence known.

"Don't underestimate us," she said, crossing her arms in front of her chest when Lucas spun around, caught off guard. "You'll be surprised."

Maya didn't make it a habit of sneaking up on people, but she couldn't resist the urge to freak him out a little. His initial surprise dwindled into a pleased smile as she walked over to where he stood.

"Spying on me, Maya?" he teased.

"Not one bit." Maya responded, a little flustered by the fact that she had to crane her head up to look directly at him. Without her heels, she didn't reach his shoulders, and it annoyed her. "I was doing recon on your entire team. Nothing more, nothing less."

"If you say so," Lucas said, though she could clearly tell from the small smirk on his face that he didn't take her comment seriously. Lucas grabbed his own gym bag, rucking it up on his shoulder. "It's getting late. Were you waiting for me to finish up?"

"Yeah. I was concerned about Anna. I wanted to know how she's doing since this afternoon took its toll on her."

"She's conked out at home. Mrs. Coleman is watching her until I get back." He looked a little worried. "Some of the other parents were saying she should be grounded from going to the fall fair. Do you think I'm spoiling her?"

"I don't think so. A stern warning should suffice for a first offense. Besides," Maya shook her head. She still couldn't get Anna's pain stricken face and red rimmed eyes out of her mind. "She's dealt with enough today."

"Okay, good to know." He cocked his head in the direction of the street. "Well, I'm headed in this direction. I parked my car near the subway entrance. Where are you going?"

"I'm going that way too."

"Great, we can walk together." He smiled, and Maya sighed, shaking her head but walking with him as they made their way towards the outskirts of the park.

Since that afternoon, she hadn't put much thought into what he'd said to her while at school, but now that she was with him again, she couldn't help but wonder if some of the things he'd said in the past were attempts to flirt. And she couldn't help but wonder if he was going to try to flirt with her now. The idea didn't make her uncomfortable per se. She just couldn't understand why or what his motivations were.

"I see you guys were also practicing today too," he remarked after the stretch of comfortable silence had worn thin. "What position are you playing?"

"Shortstop. It's been my position since high…"

Maya tapered off when Lucas sounded like he was laughing under his breath. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and sure enough, there was an amused grin on his face. He clearly thought it was funny for some damn reason. And she knew why. It had been the running gag of her teammates since she was younger that the short girl was the shortstop.

"Oh, real mature." She gave him a dirty look. "Stop it. It's not a pun or some joke based off of my height. I just happen to have very accurate aim and a strong arm."

"And you're close to the ground," he added.

"I'm agile and quick on my feet for grounders," Maya asserted.

"Which definitely helps when you're close to the ground," he said playfully.

"Listen you." She stopped walking, turning to him with a raised eyebrow. "How would you like to feel just how strong my arm is?"

He laughed. "To be honest… I think I'd rather avoid getting punched by a five foot blonde menace."

"That's what I thought."

They continued crunching through the leaves, a soft breeze picking up as the sun set, painting the sky into a gorgeous mélange of orange and purple. It was a calming image, and Maya made a mental note to herself to perhaps paint a sun set for Aiden's baby wall one day.

Maya was broken out of her reverie when her phone rang, and she picked up without checking the caller ID, assuming it was Riley probably about to ask Maya to pick up some goodies on her way home.

"Hello?"

 _"Is this Ms. Maya Hart? This is Sasha Banks from Tiny Treasures Orphanage. Your mother called about the girl named Amanda and left your number for contact for the information."_

Maya's breath hitched in her chest, her pulse racing as it always did whenever she was contacted regarding her inquiries.

"Uh, yes. This is she." She swallowed thickly, speaking a bit more lowly in the phone and trying to keep her voice from wavering. "Do… do you have anything for me?"

 _"She was adopted three years ago by a couple in Manhattan. It appears her date of birth is the fourteenth of July."_

Her throat tightened dangerously, though she tried to maintain her composure. Another failure. Another one that pained her, a tight clenching in her heart from knowing that she could not be further from her goal.

"I see…" Maya nearly whispered.

 _"Will that be all you need, Ms. Hart?"_

"Yes. Thank you. Have a good evening."

Maya ended the call and slowly slipped her phone back into her pocket, her hand trembling the slightest bit though she fought every part of her that wanted to cry. Now wasn't the time to break down over her heartache. She had to be strong at least until she reached the privacy of her bathroom so she could grieve in solitude.

"Everything okay?" Lucas asked softly beside her.

"I'm…" She cleared her throat when her voice cracked as it came out. "I'm fine."

Maya could only imagine how wrecked she probably looked. She smiled, trying to muster up a genuine neutral expression if only to divert any possible suspicions he might have had, but she wasn't entirely sure she was successful. It felt more like a grimace on her face than anything. Whatever Lucas saw in her expression, she knew couldn't be good because she could see the concern in his gaze.

"Are you sure? You look like you need someone to talk to," he offered. "It's the least I can do since you listened to me about Sophia."

She shook her head, working to put her guard back into place and replace whatever expression was on her face with her usual slight indifference. "It's nothing big. I've just been looking for something precious to me. Something my grandmother had always wanted me to keep…"

"Was it a priceless heirloom of your grandmother?"

"…Of sorts." She hesitated. The _DNA_ had certainly been passed down through generations. "I um… I gave it to someone else when I was younger. But I'm trying to find it. It just hasn't been an easy process."

"Do you want any help looking for it?" he asked as they approached his car. He tossed his bag in his trunk. "Maybe if more people search, you might be able to find it more easily."

"I appreciate your offer, but I've got my mom helping me too." She smiled tightly, her mask firmly in place and emotions under control. "Don't worry about it. We're making good progress."

He watched her quietly, looking unconvinced by what she'd said. "Maya, I know we don't know each other that well, but if you ever do want to talk about anything, I'll listen."

"I'll uh… I'll keep that in mind."

"Okay." Lucas smiled warmly, and her heart skipped a beat as she stared up at him.

His eyes were dancing in the fading light, a slightly deeper shade of green than usual. A fleeting thought passed through Maya's mind. Lucas was pretty attractive. It was weird. She _knew_ he was—or rather, she had recognized before that he was—but she didn't know why it hadn't clicked in her mind until just then.

She blinked in surprise when Lucas reached up and gently took a leaf out of her hair. "You've got twigs sticking out of your hair, you know?"

"And you didn't say anything until now?" She deadpanned.

"I thought it was funny."

He was goading her to respond. She could see it from the playful, teasing gleam in his gaze.

"…Ass."

"That's not a nice word, Ms. Hart." He tsked softly, stepping closer to her. "Is that really something you should be saying as an educator of young children?"

"I'm not in school right now." Maya's stomach fluttered from his proximity. "And you deserved it."

Lucas chuckled. "You know… you're really not what I expected when I first saw you."

"Why do you say that like it's a bad thing?" she muttered, averting her eyes and scratching her forearm nervously.

"It's not a bad thing," he responded. "Just surprising."

She remained unconvinced. Growing up, Maya had never been known for being pleasant by a lot of people. She'd been told before that her personality needed work. She wouldn't be surprised if that's what Lucas had been getting at with his comment.

"Well what exactly were you expecting?"

"I thought you'd be _soft_. Like just quiet or really girly," Lucas explained sincerely and she glanced up, her gaze locking with his. "I don't know. Gentler. And then you opened your mouth, and you were different. Not bad different. Just different."

She couldn't sense any condescension in his words or tone, and Lucas looked more intrigued than anything else. He had a look in his eyes that made her feel self-conscious and jittery, and suddenly, she felt the need to escape the conversation.

"It's getting late. I think I should head home," she said, breaking eye contact and turning towards the subway entrance nearby. "I look forward to beating you in softball on Saturday."

"We'll see about that," Lucas said.

"I guess we will, Huckleberry."

She waved over her shoulder to his laughing behind her, departing and heading down the steps of the station to catch her subway home. With each step through the bustling station, her fake smile slipped from her face as she recalled the phone call from earlier.

Maya sat at one of the benches, texting her mother about the failure, her mood effectively soured. She was getting nowhere in her plans, and the more she looked, the further away she kept feeling she was getting. Every step forward was several steps back. She hadn't made any advancements in her search, and Maya couldn't help but feel like she was going about this the wrong way. If there was one thing her mother was right about, it was that blindly searching every single orphanage wasn't going to do her any good. She needed to figure out a way to narrow down her search some more.

Maya sighed, leaning back against the tiled wall and wishing that she could discover something— _anything_ at all—that could help her figure out where her baby could be.

~.~.~

When Maya walked into her apartment, she found Riley watching TV on the couch, trying to balance cards on her abdomen and create a small tower. She had a rosy glow on her cheeks, her expression especially cheerful.

Riley laughed. "You have twigs in your hair."

"Well aware," Maya said, setting her bags down beside the door as she headed to the kitchen to find something to eat. "How was dinner with Smackle?"

"It was great!" Riley exclaimed as Maya washed her hands to scrub off the dirt under her nails. "But she wouldn't let me order dessert because I'm not meeting my healthy pregnancy goals. Can we go to the bakery down the street and get cake? Aiden wants cake."

"You sure _Aiden_ wants cake or _you_ want cake?" Maya said, cutting off the water and rummaging through the fridge for some un-Rileyed leftovers.

Nowadays, the only things she could usually find were atrocious concoctions of Riley's to satisfy her wild cravings. Peanut butter, ketchup and mac and cheese. Fruit smoothies with pickle bits that were way too sour. And all the unbelievably sweet, cavity inducing foods she'd created that were lingering in the back. There was some untouched pasta thankfully and Maya pulled it out, reminding herself to buy more groceries.

"I'm just a lowly vessel carrying out the will of her precious baby boy. Please Maya?" she said in an adorable baby voice, batting her eyelashes and doing that puppy dog thing with her eyes. "It would make Aiden so very happy."

"Riley, you're actually evil, you know that right? I can't say no when you make that face."

"All the more reason to make it."

Maya sighed. "So what has you so chipper and energetic tonight?"

"Guess who Smackle and I ran into during dinner?" Riley giggled. "Charlie!"

"Oh…" Maya grimaced as she set the Tupperware in the microwave. "I'm sorry."

"No, it's fine." Riley waved off her apology. "It was good. He was having dinner with some work colleagues in his business office, and we both ended up going to the bathroom at the same time."

"Are you okay?" Maya knew Charlie abandoning her was a touchy topic.

"To be honest, not really." Riley stroked her belly absentmindedly. "It hurt to see him when the wounds are still fresh, but he didn't look okay either, so that made me feel better."

Maya rose a brow, glancing at Riley and giving her an incredulous look from how vindictive she sounded. Riley caught her look, and her eyes widened when she realized what the implication of her words sounded like.

"Oh no! Not like that." She hastened to explain. "I don't want him _not_ to be okay. I want him to be okay. But what I mean is while talking to me, he seemed like he had something he needed to say and he kept looking regretful, like he messed up or something. I think he wants me back, Maya."

Maya hesitated, her brows furrowing in concern. It sounded a little farfetched to her, and it seemed like Riley was giving herself false hope. She didn't know how to tell Riley not to get her hopes up, because she didn't want to crush Riley's hope, but she didn't want her hurting if she'd completely misread the interaction. There was a good chance she wasn't thinking straight because she still was clouded by her love for Charlie.

"Just… keep an open mind, okay? Don't get too caught up on your conversation. Sometimes it's hard to tell what people are actually thinking behind their expressions."

Maya herself was a testament to that fact. She'd hidden her grief while searching for her baby from her friends and mother for years.

"I know, Maya," Riley said, though Maya didn't doubt that she'd already disregarded her warning. "So… where were you last week? You didn't come to our group dinner."

"I had practice with the other teachers, remember?" Maya lied, occupying herself with mixing the heated pasta so Riley couldn't see her face.

That had been the same evening she'd stayed at the Friars to take care of Anna when she'd gotten sick.

"Which is a total lie. I asked Elliot. You guys didn't have practice that night." Riley had a shrewd undertone in her voice. "Are you seeing someone you aren't telling me about? Smackle saw you leaving from her apartment complex that evening when she went to go get some more of her stuff. But she said that you didn't visit her at all or come see her. They all think that you ditched us because you had a date at someone's place. But I told them it isn't true. So which is it, Maya?"

This was not an ideal situation.

"Riley, I didn't ditch all of you for a secret date with someone." Maya could feel herself being backed into a corner.

"So then why were you at that apartment complex? We don't live anywhere near there. And you obviously didn't go there to meet Smackle. You can see why I'm suspicious, right? What were you doing that night? And why'd you lie to me?"

"…I was looking for a possible new apartment," Maya said slowly, feeling bad about lying. But she couldn't reveal the truth.

Riley looked alarmed. "What? Why? Do you not want to live with me anymore?"

"Well, first off, don't get crazy. I was just _looking_ ," Maya continued. "But still, you're due to have your baby in about a couple months. Did you think about living arrangements?"

Now that Maya thought about it, that _was_ something that they had to start planning for, especially considering that Riley was due by the end of the year.

"Well no." Riley poked at her stomach, watching as some cards slid off the top. "Up until now, I've only thought that I was going to live with Charlie."

"Well now's the time to think about what your future plans are, because as much as I love you, it wouldn't work. I can't live with you while you're raising your baby." Maya grabbed her food and headed to the living room, shrugging apologetically.

"You're right." Riley groaned. "I didn't think that far ahead."

"Lucky for you, I'm pretty sure Smackle's lease doesn't end until the end of the year though. You could definitely rent her apartment… and move there…"

But Lucas lived there. And that could potentially pose a small problem. She didn't necessarily think Riley would run into him or anything, but Maya also didn't know if Smackle had walked past Lucas and Anna some times in the past. Smackle wasn't acquainted with the two, so she might have ignored them, but Riley knew them both. And if she somehow came to find out that Lucas lived there, Maya knew her chipper friend would know right off the bat where Maya had been that night. And then the never ending questions and insinuations would start.

"You're right! That's a really great idea! I'll ask her about it tomorrow."

"Oh yeah… Sure."

Only now, Maya was starting to think it was a really bad idea.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Happy Belated New Year guys!  
**

 **Hey Lilly! I honestly was surprised it took the show so long to give Maya the "Maya Papaya" nickname; it seemed like an obvious choice given her name.**

 **Gosh I missed you guys so much. I love you guys a lot! You're all so wonderful; I know I can come back on the site after being super busy and I'll always de-stress thanks to you guy! Thanks for your patience while the end of 2016 kicked my butt. Here's to 2017 being the year I finish every story I started!** **:)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Girl Meets World, but… eh I got nothing…**

* * *

"Maya, what a pleasant surprise. We finally get a chance to talk again," Lucas said with a smile, a little out of breath, readjusting the pirate hat on his head as he came to a stop at second base. Maya shifted back to her placement between second and third as Coach Morris got the ball back for the next batter. "I'd been hoping I would get stuck on second one of these times."

She cracked a bubble from her gum, turning and raising a sarcastic brow at him. "Did you miss me that much?"

"Is it that obvious?" he returned in the same playful tone.

Tina started chuckling from third, and Maya felt her cheeks rouge, spinning around to face the front and wait for the pitch. Lucas had thrown playful barbs every time she got on first, and she would be lying if she said she hadn't enjoyed playing along a little. It wasn't like she was flirting back, but softball brought out a part of her that had been buried long ago, and she'd gotten sucked into the fake trash-talking, teasing fun of the game. It didn't help that the parents had gone with a pirate theme for their theme and all looked ridiculous from the fake parrots on their shoulders to the striped pants, eyepatches, and thick buckles. Not that the teachers looked any better. They had gone with the 50s look, and Maya wasn't so sure it was a great idea to play in a poodle skirt anymore. She was sure her skirt had flown up about a million times, but at least she had on tights to prevent this game from turning into an X rated flick.

But she had to focus.

The next batter up was Sandra Moore. She wasn't a particular powerhouse, but her precision with her batting and her direction was second to none and she could definitely get the bases loaded if she hit successfully. They had two outs, but thanks to the previous hit, had two men on base. Billy was batting after Sandra, and he'd consistently gotten great hits the entire game. Maya couldn't find any weaknesses in his skill, so she knew if he got at bat, he would definitely do his job as clean-up, which would crawl into everyone's psyche. Maya's team would feel the heat and make errors from being anxious, and Lucas' team would have renewed morale and energy.

She had to get someone out before Billy if she wanted to turn the momentum of the game. And right now, the only person she could see herself getting out was _Lucas_. He was closest to her and probably the easiest to distract, but she'd have to be quick on her feet.

Maya glanced briefly over her left shoulder at Lucas. "You know I'm going to get you out, right? Just prepping you."

Lucas smirked, raising a brow. "How are you going to get me out?"

"Think about it. Sandra will try to load the bases. Billy's up next and does his thing." Coach Morris wound the pitch and tossed the ball. It was a strike, though Sandra hadn't made any real motions to hit it. She was testing the waters. There were cheers from some of the audience cheering on the teachers. "He'll hit anything as long as it gets you all home. Which means that I have to get you out in the next round."

"And if he gets walked? Don't you think your pitcher will sacrifice a run to make sure Billy doesn't get a chance to bring us home?"

"The guy going after Billy is still a pretty good batter though." Maya focused her gaze on Sandra's bat as Coach Morris pitched again. Ball. "We can't risk possible loaded bases again."

"Ah. So you're going after me." Lucas sounded amused.

"Precisely."

"What did I do to deserve making an enemy out of you?"

"What?" Maya said playfully, watching Sandra carefully as Coach Morris tossed the pitch. It was too far out of the range. Ball. "Are you scared that I'm going to get you out?"

" _Yes_ ," Lucas said, readjusting the fake eyepatch on his face. "I've seen the ruthless way you've been playing today. You're terrifying. Especially for being this pint sized human being."

She chewed on her lower lip to keep her smile at bay.

Coach Morris wound for the pitch again and Maya shifted a bit to the right, closer to third as he threw the ball. Sandra swung and it careened back towards them, shooting right past Coach Morris' legs before he could stop it. The line drive hit the ground and bounced on a patch of dirt, changing its direction to Maya. She had to be careful; those kind of balls tended to be unpredictable. Out of her peripheral, she could see Lucas running to third. Someone on her team was shouting to get Lucas out, and as soon as the ball was safely in her glove, she pivoted on her heel and spun around. He was already more than halfway to third base.

This was do or die.

In a split second, she launched herself at him, but by the time he noticed her, he reacted too late. In what seemed like slow motion, Maya collided with him, and with a grunt, they crashed to the ground. A bunch of dirt invaded Maya's mouth when her chin hit the ground, and she spat in disgust to clear her mouth of the taste.

There were gasps from some of the other players as the dust settled. Lucas coughed and cleared his throat as he sat up slowly in the aftermath of their crash. As Maya also pulled herself up to her knees, she noticed her glove—with the ball inside—was resting on his leg, and a smile grew on her face just as Lucas' expression turned into one of surprise.

 _"O-out!_ "

"You're out," Maya said smugly at the same time the umpire stated it.

"Through questionable methods," Lucas responded good-naturedly. "Tackling, Maya?"

"I tripped when I tried to tag you."

"Tripped?" he laughed, eyeing her in amusement. "You just dove to get me out like some rabid flying squirrel."

Well, her nickname in high school hadn't been Flying Squirrel for nothing.

"I told you I was going to get you out, didn't I? You should have prepared yourself for anything that could happen."

"Maya Hart… you never fail to surprise me…" he murmured, his voice quieting to a lull that made goosebumps rise on her neck.

She stared at him, her breathing still a little choppy from physical exertion. Adrenaline was pumping wildly through her veins, and she held his gaze, feeling emboldened for some reason.

"Hey, you guys alright?" Someone called out. "It's three outs, you know? We're switching sides!"

"We're fine!" Maya replied as she and Lucas rose to their feet. Her poodle skirt was torn at the bottom, and Lucas' hat had scattered quite a bit away. Maya cursed in her mind. She'd borrowed the skirt from Riley, and she was definitely going to kill her when she saw that she'd messed it up.

Lucas brushed the dirt out of his hair before putting the pointy pirate hat back on. "You know, I think you should be penalised for attacking another player."

She snorted and tossed the ball to Lucas. "You're just mad because you let yourself get distracted by an attractive, pint sized human being."

"Your words, not mine."

"Doesn't make them any less true, _Huckleberry_."

And just for fun, she tossed her hair haughtily over her shoulder as she turned to walk to her team's dugout. She high fived Suny as the other woman picked up her bat and left the dugout. The other teachers were lounging around, some laughing over the disarray of their costumes while others were guzzling down water and relaxing on the wooden bench.

Maya plopped down beside Tina with a sigh and stretched out her legs. "Think we have a shot at winning, T?"

"No chance in hell," Tina laughed in response, raising a brow at Maya. "But I'm glad someone on our team is doing their absolute best for us to win. You're an inspiration to us all, Maya."

"I'll say," Cindy chimed in with a chuckle. "That crazy tackle play was the morale boost I think I really needed."

"You know you could have just tossed the ball to me though, right? I could have gotten him out without all that crazy extra stuff." Tina poked Maya's side.

Honestly, Maya had forgotten about that. At the time, her only preoccupation had been to get Lucas out any way she could.

"I know," she lied, to try to mask her slight embarrassment. "I just like to play rough."

"You're a scary player." Tina wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Although I don't blame you for playing rough with a boyfriend who's pretty good."

"Not my boyfriend," Maya sighed with a roll of her eyes.

"According to Riley and Mrs. Carpenter, he is."

 _Damn you, Riley… Stop spreading rumours._

"He's a room parent and something of a friend."

"Mrs. Carpenter said that he's into you," she singsonged. "That you guys were flirting in the main office."

"I highly doubt that. You know he probably still hasn't gotten over his ex-wife, right?" Maya said, just to trying to dissuade Tina's sudden interest in some false rumour about her relationship with Lucas.

"From what I heard, it sounds like he definitely has." Tina started snickering when Maya loosely wrapped her hands around her neck and pretended to choke her. When the umpire shouted 'Out', their attention returned to the game.

"It's too bad none of you veterans are up at bat." Tina sighed. "We could have tried to get in a few more points. We're probably going to lose badly now, especially since you'll be leaving in an inning or so. I don't see how we can win without a shortstop."

Tina was right. The teachers were probably about to get creamed, especially with only a few innings left. But at least she'd have the satisfaction of having gotten Lucas out.

Maya looked up from the dugout where Lucas was standing on first just as he glanced behind him. She stuck her tongue out at him, and he shook his head with a smile.

~.~.~

"Alright, sweetheart," Maya said as she finished off the last whisker of the cat on a boy's cheek. "You have yourself a nice kitty."

"Thank you!" he called out as he ran off.

Maya rinsed off her little brush in the mug with water as she waited for another kid to show up. She'd had to leave before the end of the game to take over for her shift at the face paint booth, but one of the parents who'd watched the last three innings of the game had told her about it when she stopped by. Even though the teachers played a good game, many of them weren't experienced enough and they'd ended up losing. From the first inning, the parents had already been ahead by two, but by the ninth, they were ahead by five. Her team had done the best they could and definitely prevented some major points the parents could have gotten, but the inexperience did them in.

As Maya finished cleaning off her paintbrush to line them up on the table, a woman walked by with a crying baby. Maya's head snapped up and her breath hitched in her chest at the sound.

For a moment, Maya was dragged back to the day she gave away her baby. Back to the stench of antiseptic in the hospital, though the lingering pain in her lower back and soreness in her pelvis from labour had been nowhere near the heartache from abandoning her baby. Nowhere near as heartwrenching as listening to her baby's cries reverberate around the room as Maya turned away, never getting the chance to even look at her tiny, newborn body. Never getting the chance to touch her plush warm skin or see her eyes open. She hadn't even had a real chance to pick a name. Maya had been thinking about going with Aria or Faye or even Freya, but in the end, none of the names she'd considered made a difference. Her heart squeezed hard in her chest as she stared wistfully at the woman pacifying her child.

"Miss Hart!"

The cheerful voice broke Maya out of her thoughts and she focused her attention on Anna who suddenly showed up, dragging Lucas by his arm behind her. He looked exasperated, and maybe a little tired, but he still allowed Anna to pull him to the chair in front of Maya. She tugged on his sleeve until he finally sat down. Like most parents and teachers, Lucas had also changed out of the ridiculous costume he'd been wearing, no doubt because of all the dust that had accumulated on it.

"I was waiting for you to paint faces!" she said excitedly, hopping up and down beside her father. "Daddy, you have to get a matching face tattoo too. Amber has one with her dad and we're trying to be twins. Stay here! I'll be right back, Daddy!"

She ran off somewhere before he could object, and Lucas only turned back to Maya with a brow raised as if apologising to Maya for Anna's hyperactivity.

"Tattoo twins." Maya was barely able to hold back her laugh at the horrified look that seemed to be lingering on his face. "She has a butterfly on her face, ya know?"

He groaned under his breath. "She won't stop until she gets what she wants."

"So you're letting Anna walk all over you? I always knew you would be that kind of spineless dad."

"Well damn, Maya." Lucas chuckled, turning his face to her when Maya dipped her brush in the pink paint. "I can't help it. It's hard to say no when she does her puppy dog eyes thing."

"Okay then. One pink and glittery butterfly with a trail of saccharine hearts for Mr. Perfect coming right up," she teased as she began the outline for the thing.

He was silent for a while and Maya thought he was going to stay quiet while he waited for her to finish. But then his mouth curved up into a sly smile and she found herself feeling some sort of trepidation at the expression on his face.

"Mr. Perfect?" he said absentmindedly.

Maya stopped painting and cursed in her mind when she realised what had slipped out of her mouth when she hadn't been paying attention.

"That's what most of the teachers call you," she lied, trying to act nonchalant.

"Most teachers, huh? Including you?"

Without a word, she took her brush and painted the tip of his nose with pink. Lucas turned to look at her slowly, his eyes flashing briefly with a promise of revenge before his face settled into an amused expression she couldn't quite read.

"Oops. Sorry," Maya deadpanned.

There was something a little obscene in his gaze as he wiped off the paint on his nose.

"I hit the nail right on the head, huh?" he said in low voice.

Maya averted her eyes for a moment, feeling the back of her neck go a little hot. "Do you really want to piss off the person currently painting your face, Huckleberry? That butterfly could easily end up becoming an appendage of the male anatomy."

Lucas laughed, turning his face again so Maya could finish the painting. "Wouldn't be the first time someone has drawn that on my face, to be honest."

Maya can't help but smile at that one. His dorkiness was oddly endearing.

They were quiet for a while as Maya continued to paint the butterfly. She made sure to make good on her promise and put more glitter than necessary on his face. When he'd finished most of it, she backed off a little to look at the shape and design. As she stared at him, she got somewhat distracted by his profile. She kind of got why Tina and some others were suspicious about their relationship. He was attractive, but honestly, she didn't get why people kept making such a big deal over the fact that she and Lucas talked a little bit. Sure, he was a hot dad, but it wasn't like she was salivating all over him or something. They talked a bit, and _maybe_ flirted once or twice, but that was it. Although she did really like his eyes, especially the way the sun was reflecting off of them.

"Almost done?" He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, and she quickly shifted her gaze back down, focusing on the butterfly on his cheek.

"Just a bit more."

He nodded his understanding. "You were great, you know?"

"What?" Maya frowned in confusion.

"Softball game. It's been a long time since anyone tagged me out. Especially the way you did."

She rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Wow… conceited much."

He shrugged with a small laugh. "I'm just saying."

"Well thank you. I appreciate the compliment," Maya said sarcastically, jabbing him with the paintbrush harder than she needed to.

"We could use someone with your energy on our team. Every once in a while, some parents from school have scrimmages at the community park on the weekend. If you ever want to join us, play a real game, you should come out."

She hesitated, her brows furrowing uneasily. "…I'll think about it. There's a reason I hung up the cleats and put away the bat."

"Did something happen to you?"

She set down the paintbrush and thought about her words carefully. "My uh… my grandmother passed away in my senior year of college, and I kind of lost passion for the game."

And the joy of life.

"I loved my grandma. She was always my support system when I needed her." Especially when she'd gotten pregnant in her final year of high school. "Losing her… It just…"

"It wrecked you. You lost yourself too," he said sympathetically. "I can relate. It's always hard losing someone close."

Maya paused, fighting the stinging in the back of her eyes. "Everything changed for me. And that's why I quit softball. I wasn't in it anymore. I couldn't really find a real passion for painting anymore either. Everything I knew about myself just felt gone."

"I'm sorry…" Lucas apologised sincerely.

"It's fine. It was hard, but it did make me realise that all life is precious." Maya stared out at the distance, smiling wistfully. "All life is precious and important… I…"

She gave up her baby.

She listened to everyone around her. Listened to all the dissent and let their words scare her into giving up her child. Into losing her confidence. Into making that horrible decision of letting go of her baby without even getting a real chance to look at her. Despite the fact that things with her ex hadn't worked out during her pregnancy, they'd still made that baby with love, and Maya _had_ loved her baby. Regardless of how difficult her future would have been, Maya had been fully prepared to drop everything and put her all into raising her child. She understood Katy's fears about Maya leading the same difficult life, but even with the possibility looming over her head, Maya had never been concerned.

And a hard life sure beat out the gray, mundane life she'd been leading. She'd lost some part of herself a long time ago the minute she gave up her baby. Then her whole life shattered when she lost her Gammy. And she wasn't sure she'd be able to get it back until she found her child.

"Maya?" Lucas was watching her warily, an uneasy look on his face, and she knew her expression must have been concerning.

She smiled, snapping out of her daze and picking up the paintbrush again to finish putting the finishing touches on the butterfly's wing.

"I changed," she continued, her chipper voice fake and sounding grating to her ears. "And I just wanted to find a different passion in life. Things that I thought I knew so well just kind of weren't the same to me anymore. And then later, I became a teacher because I realised I loved children and loved working with them."

"At least it ended on a happy note, then?"

Not quite. Not until she found her baby.

"Sure. And on that note, time for you to go, Lucas," she chastised playfully. "There are _actual_ kids who want to get their faces painted and you're blocking the line. Besides, Anna's been waiting for you too."

They both glanced at Anna who was standing behind a tree nearby staring in their direction. When she saw them looking at her, she quickly spun around with a gasp and hid behind the tree.

"What is she doing…?" Lucas laughed. "Well, thank you for the pink butterfly."

"No problem. Have fun."

Lucas stood and with a wave, walked over to Anna. She tried to run from him when she realised he'd found her hiding place, but he picked her up with ease, setting her on his shoulders as she squealed with laughter. Maya watched them, her heart squeezing briefly in her chest. Hopefully sometime soon, she'd be able to have precious moments like that with her own daughter.

"He's cute. Boyfriend?" Melissa asked beside her as she cleaned off her own brushes.

"Uh no… He's just a friend…" Maya turned, addressing the little boy who sat in front of her. "So what would you like painted on your face?"

"Can I have a dragon with scales like Godzilla and and and horns and a tail and spikes and claws?!"

Maya blinked, before laughing a bit. "How about I just draw you a mini Godzilla?"

"Okay!"

Maya started to paint the base for the green monster, though a slight frown formed on her face. Truth was, she'd partially lied. Yes, she did like working with children, but part of her reason for becoming a teacher was to always remind herself of what she could have had.

Every day hurt, but she knew it was what she deserved.

~.~.~

Maya was glad when the end of the fair day rolled around and she could finally go home. She'd gotten a short break around six to grab a quick dinner, but after that, it had been right back to the booth, this time as the only worker. Thankfully, only a few latecomers had come to get their face painted, and for the most part, things had been relatively quiet. But after that long day, Maya was exhausted out of her mind. She'd forgotten how much energy game days took out of her.

After she folded up the chairs and tables of the booth and moved the signs inside the little tent, she put all the paint supplies up.

"Now what to do…" Maya sighed, her hands resting on her hips a she surveyed the mess of items she would have to take with her.

Not only did she have to carry the huge box with materials, but there was also her softball bag with all of her equipment. Plus, Riley had dropped by earlier with some giant cake she'd won in the cake walk that she requested Maya take home since she'd had an appointment to go to. It would be a cantankerous walk home. Either that, or she'd have to make more than one trip if she didn't figure out a strategic way to get all her things in one go. And while the school wasn't too far from where she lived, she wasn't a fan of making multiple trip when her fingers were starting to get stiff from the cold. Not for the first time, she wondered why she'd never invested in a car.

Just as she'd made up her mind to put the cake in the paint box—if it toppled and got ruined, tough—and hold the softball bag like a purse, she saw Lucas walking by. There were only a handful of people left at the fair, most of them gathering their things to leave, but she'd thought he would have left a while ago. Most of the teachers were also already gone. He and Anna had been there since the morning, but Maya wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Hey! Lucas!" she called out. When he turned his attention to her, she gestured to all her things. "Could I please catch a ride with you to get home? I'm having a bit of trouble with all my stuff."

"Of course. I was actually about to head home soon too." Lucas pointed to the park bench close to the bean bag toss booth where Anna was curled up, about to fall asleep. "I'll bring the car closer. Do you mind watching Anna for a second? She's pretty tired."

"Sure, no problem."

Maya headed over to the little girl as Lucas left. Sure enough, her eyes were drooping with each second that passed and she looked like she was getting really comfortable in her curled up ball.

Maya crouched next to her, brushing some blonde curls off her face. "Anna, can you walk? You're daddy's bringing the car around soon so you can go home."

She grumbled something unintelligible in response, but shook her head and only curled up further into a ball. The girl was clearly not going to make any attempts to move. With a sigh, Maya scooped her up and put her on her hip, supporting her bottom with her forearm so she wouldn't slip down. She was so glad that Anna was particularly small for her age compared to the other girls, because Maya wasn't the tallest person either, and enough weight could easily tip her over.

Anna made a soft noise in her sleep and clung to Maya, wrapping her arms around her shoulders and nuzzling her face into Maya' neck. Maya chuckled to herself at Anna's adorable koala-like behaviour. She could understand why Lucas kept spoiling Anna; there was something undeniably difficult about doing something to displease this little girl. She rubbed the back of Anna's head, gently trailing her fingers through her hair, and feeling strange about it all. Her heart felt like it was swelling in her chest. It could have been nice to have a precious moment like this with her own baby too.

She headed back over to her belongings just as Lucas returned, tossing his keys up and down. When he noticed them, his eyes widened a fraction in surprise, and he missed catching his keys. They fell to the ground and Maya wondered if she'd way crossed boundaries by holding Anna.

"Sorry." Maya winced. "She was sleeping on the bench, and it looked really hard and stiff. Do you want to take her?"

"No. It's fine. She looks comfortable. Like that. I mean, it looks… uh normal," he hastened to explain as he retrieved his keys from the ground.

" _Normal_? What?"

"Sorry, poor word choice. I swear I wasn't trying to be sexist or something. I-I just…" he stammered, rubbing the back of his neck. "I meant that she's probably more comfortable on you than me. I mean, she really hates people picking her up unless it's me or Zay."

"Oh. Well, she didn't seem to mind, I guess." Maya felt her cheeks rouge when Lucas kept staring at them with an odd expression on his face. "So, uh, did you want to get going? It's getting late."

"Right. Is this all your stuff?"

Maya nodded. "The cake and the box of paint stuff. I can hold my softball bag."

They gathered Maya's things before heading slowly over to the closest spot in the lot where he'd parked his car. From the corner of her eye, she could see Lucas glancing at her from time to time. It was a little bit unnerving. She didn't understand why he was giving her those looks. Btu before she could ask him what his deal was, an old couple strolling through the part of the park outside of the fair smiled at them as they passed.

"How old is your little one?" the old woman asked her.

The comment caught Maya off guard, and she floundered for words in her head, trying to figure out a way to explain that Anna wasn't her child, although she did know what it must have looked like from an outside view. She and Lucas were walking closely side by side and Maya was cradling Anna gingerly as one would hold their own child. She only hoped no one at her school noticed her because this situation would no doubt fuel the rumours that had already been floating around.

Lucas didn't seem phased at all by the question. "She's seven, and a major troublemaker."

"Well, she's adorable. And you have a lovely family. Have a good evening."

"Thank you. You too," he said congenially as the couple continued on.

Maya rose a brow at Lucas as they started heading over to his truck again.

"What? It was easier to just say thanks instead of explaining the truth." He gave her a sheepish smile.

She didn't say anything in response. She was starting to feel like maybe the assumptions other teachers had about her relationship with Lucas were justified. If random people were also seeing some kind of relationship looking thing between her and Lucas, maybe that was a sign that she really needed to put more space between them. Maybe set some boundaries in the future if their simple banter ever started to evolve further than what would be appropriate.

After they'd put all her items in the trunk, Maya walked over to the backseat to set Anna inside. It took quite a bit to get Anna to let go of her neck—especially since she kept making an annoyed whining noise anytime Maya tried to detangle her arms—but she finally let go. Maya locked in her seat belt, made sure Anna was comfortable before she took the cake from Lucas and climbed in the passenger seat.

She felt her fatigue start catching up to her as Lucas drove her home. She'd been hoping to spend a few hours doing more research to look for her child once she returned, but with the hectic day she'd had, she wasn't sure she'd be able to muster up the energy. Maya relaxed in the seat, her own eyes drooping slightly as she started to dose off to Lucas humming softly to the country song in the background—slightly off key, she noted in amusement. She wasn't sure if she'd actually fallen asleep, but when she opened her eyes, he was parking in front of her complex.

"Do you need help carrying your stuff up?" he asked when she sat up straighter.

"Yeah, that'd be great."

He grabbed her softball bag from the back as Maya took the cake, and then locked the doors as they made their way into the complex. As they headed up, she really hoped she cleaned up a bit of the apartment, because that morning, Riley had been having one of her forgetful spells and had nearly torn apart their living room because couldn't find her keys when they were in her hand.

To her displeasure, when she opened it, the living room was a total mess and worse, she had forgotten that she'd had left her bras hanging up in the kitchen to dry. Lucas stared at the mess with a look of shock as he set her softball bag near the front door.

"Wow… At least I have an excuse for a messy apartment since I've got a kid and all, but this…?"

Maya snatched the bras down as soon as she set the cake on the counter, heat painting her cheeks red. "Ignore everything please."

But Lucas was grinning, taking in everything with this thinly veiled look of amusement that made Maya want to kick him. "You always look so put together. I guess I should have expected _this_ though considering your personality."

"Just get out already." Maya stormed over to him and tried to force him out the door.

"Alright, alright. I'm going."

She didn't just want him out because she was embarrassed. Riley had been at her appointment for a while, and it was only a matter of time before she got home. If Riley saw Lucas in their apartment, she would think Maya invited him there. It was bad enough that damn Mrs. Carpenter had spread some rumours, but she didn't want Riley making any more assumptions about something that didn't exist.

He stopped in the doorway before he left though. "I meant to ask you earlier, but can I have your number?"

Maya frowned as she stared up at him suspiciously.

"For Anna," Lucas clarified, though she wondered if he was being sincere. "I feel like if Anna ends up having to wait longer than the time I was going to pick her up because of some emergency, wouldn't it be more convenient if I could call you directly to let you know? Just in case."

She narrowed her eyes. He did have a point, but there was some kind of playful spark in his eyes and again, she wondered how much Anna really factored in his desire for her number.

"This number comes with great responsibility, you know? If you abuse the privileges I'm giving you by giving you my highly coveted phone number, I'm blocking you for life."

A grin grew on his face. "Define 'abuse'. Is sending you a good morning and goodnight text every day an abuse of privileges?"

" _Yes_ ," Maya said. "Don't do that."

"Noted."

She still didn't like the mischievous look on his face as they exchanged numbers, but she figured he understood not to bug her about ridiculous things that had nothing to do with Anna. After all, they were something of friends maybe—but not close—and randomly texting her for no reason wouldn't really make sense.

Once they'd said their goodbyes and he'd left, Maya finally let out the yawn she'd been holding in for quite a while. She made an executive decision to take a bath and unwind from the long day with a cool glass of wine. It was a shame she wouldn't have the chance to do some more searching, but she supposed it was better to get an early start tomorrow when she was refreshed. As she stripped out of her dusty clothes and tossed them in the laundry bin, her phone rang. She read the text from the unknown number.

 **Hey, it's Mr. Perfect. You left the box of paint supplies in my car. You want me to bring them up?**

 _That's not necessary. Are you coming to the fair tomorrow?_

 **Yeah, I'll be there in the morning.**

 _Bring them tomorrow, then._

 **Oh darn. I was hoping to get another glimpse into the messy, private life of Maya Hart.**

 _Not happening again. Go home._

She rolled her eyes, tossing her phone on her bed, though she couldn't help the smile that tugged up the corners of her mouth.

"What a dork."


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Lol snail pace slow build. This story was only supposed to be 15 chapters when I planned it. It'll probably closer to 30 now. Yikes.**

 **Hi Sabrinator! I did use to watch WWE back in like 2001 to roughly 2005 when I was in primary school, lol but the name I used in Ch. 12 is a pretty funny coincidence! I didn't know there was a wrestler named Sasha Banks! (I actually stole Sasha from my old neighbour's cat and the Banks from Tyra Banks because I was rewatching an episode of ANTM while writing that chapter lol)**

 **I love you guys! Also, thank you for reading my story even though I'm inconsistent as heck. But rest assured I've made a goal to finish this story by the end of 2017 for sure!** **:)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Girl Meets World, but… eh I got nothing…**

* * *

"And then I hit the ball and it flew over everyone's head, and I thought it would be like an in-the-park homerun, but I got out before I could get home," Anna said cheerfully, kicking her legs back and forth as she sat on the back table near Maya. "But the other coach told me my playing was at a higher level than my age and he told Daddy that he was going to send him some information about club softball league so I can get better training!"

Maya smiled at her enthusiasm as she dipped her brush in the mix of blue she'd created on her palette. Art club had ended a while ago, but while Maya waited for Lucas to come pick up his daughter, she'd decided to start a new project. It was weird, but Maya had had a sudden burst of inspiration to paint. It'd been years since she felt that itch, but there was something about this calm Thursday afternoon with Anna chattering beside her that made her want to start a longterm project. She wasn't really sure what she was painting—she was kind of letting whatever crossed her mind at the moment hit the canvas—but she felt relaxed and was enjoying it.

"That must have been exciting." Maya started to paint some clouds. Skies were always a favourite of hers to draw back in the day. "Did your father look into it?"

"He told me I could only do it if I got straight As this year. He's being a butt just because Miss Joy called him about the recorder incident." Anna took the lollipop out of her mouth and she pouted, her lips an artificial red colour from the sucker.

Maya leaned over sideways, raising a brow at Anna. "Recorder incident? What did you do?"

"I tried to shoot a spitball out of it. But it's not _my_ fault. Mark challenged me to see if I could do it, and no way I'm losing to a dumb boy!"

Maya sighed, shaking her head in amusement. The rivalry between those two was definitely going to make the rest of the school year difficult.

"Miss Hart, help me make my dad let me join the club team! He listens to you!"

Maya stopped painting momentarily, her brows furrowing from the request. "I can't oppose your father's wishes for you, Anna Banana. He's your parent; I'm just your teacher."

"Miss Hart…" she whined, her eyes glimmering in disappointment, and Maya felt her heart clench. She could definitely understand what Lucas meant about Anna being unbelievably persistent and unbelievably difficult to say no to now. "Didn't you do a club team? I wanna be able to play real softball like you when I grow up."

Maya shook her head, though she smiled at Anna's desires to be like her. It was sweet. "I couldn't afford it. Those teams were expensive, so I didn't play much in primary and middle school except in gym. Of course, once I got a job though, I bought new equipment and joined my high school team. And then by my senior year, I was scouted for college and got a scholarship to play."

A quick glance at Anna showed that the girl was staring at Maya with this wide eyed look of awe. Maya bit her lower lip to keep from chuckling.

"You're so amazing, Miss Hart. You were so cool at the Fall Fair especially when you got my dad out! And Amber is so jealous that you're my teacher. And Daddy told me that one year when you were in school you were on the team that won some big national championship. Is it true?" she blurted out in nearly one breath.

"It is…" Maya said suspiciously. "But how exactly does your dad know that?"

"He found it on the internet." She crunched off the last of the lollipop. "I need to practice every day so I can get to NYU too! Can you practice with me too, Miss Hart?"

"I would love to practice with you when I'm free, but don't forget your grades matter too, Anna Banana. Don't neglect your studies in favour of extracurriculars." If Riley heard Maya, she would be so proud of how far Maya had come from being the huge slacker she used to be. "You didn't do so well on the science quiz today. Did you study yesterday after your game?"

Anna blushed red and ducked her head quickly, looking embarrassed. "No…"

"Is that so?"

Maya looked over her shoulder, caught off guard by Lucas' sudden interjection. Anna squeaked in surprise, nearly dropping the stick of her lollipop as she fumbled to keep it in her fingers.

"I only caught the last bit of that conversation, but I guess this means that your TV time needs to be diminished," Lucas said as he strolled the rest of the way into the classroom languidly, a brow raised in disdain.

"Miss Hart!" Anna hopped off the table and stomped her foot. "He's being a butt again! Make him stop!"

"I told you not to let Little League take over your focus in school, didn't I, Anna?" he said sternly. "I know you don't like it, but school is important."

"But Daddy!"

"No buts."

Maya sighed as Anna's cheeks flushed an angry red as she huffed angrily. No doubt Lucas would have to deal with a moody Anna for a while. The girl had an iron will and could be more stubborn than a mule if she was really displeased with a situation.

"But Miss Hart got into college because of softball. So why can't I?"

"That may be true, Anna," Maya explained, leaning down and wiping off some paint she saw on Anna's chin, "but I had to maintain a certain grade point average in order to get and keep the scholarship. It's okay to love softball, but school is necessary as well."

"But I hate studying…" she muttered. "It's so boring. There's more fun stuff to do."

"Your father is right though. Studying is important, okay?" Anna nodded sullenly. Maya picked up both of Anna's hand, looking at the splotches of paint on her palms, dried paint under her fingernails, and sticky lollipop residue. "Good girl. Now go wash your hands so that you and your father can leave."

Anna's lips turned down into a pout, but she dragged her feet out of the classroom to go do what was asked of her.

"How is it that she listens to you more than she listens to her own father?" Lucas said in fake annoyance, though he did look genuinely impressed. "Yesterday, she kept citing that she didn't have to eat broccoli because you didn't like it either. I guess that means you've replaced me as her hero then."

"Par for the course considering I'm a much cooler adult than her butt of a dorky dad. Just wait until she's a teenager. It'll only get worse," Maya quipped, though she smiled serenely. "But at least she's happy and healthy."

"I think a lot of that is thanks to you," Lucas responded as he approached her, a smile on his lips that made Maya's heart jump in her chest briefly.

"It's because you stopped being a half-a-dad," Maya said, spinning around and facing her painting to continue with her work. "Your efforts in her life have livened up her spirits."

"That might be it, but I think it's more because she relates to you well. She talks about school a lot now. How great a teacher and role model you are." He stopped behind her, watching as she continued to paint the cloud, using a darker blue to create a shadow under it. "You're the positive impact in her life that she's been missing."

Maya glanced over her shoulder and smiled up at him. "You're a positive impact in her life too, you know? She works really hard at the things she loves a lot because of you. She picked up your work ethic and tries her hardest in everything she does because you've inadvertently taught her to never give up. You've come a long way as her father, and it's really changed the way she sees life in a good way, no matter how annoyed she is with her butt of a dad."

Lucas didn't say anything, his hand partially covering his mouth as he stroked his stubble with his fingers. But behind his hand, she caught the slight quirk of his lips and thought maybe she'd gone overboard with the compliments. It was the same look he'd had on his face right after she'd put pink paint on his nose at the fair. A look that screamed danger to her then and still screamed danger to her now.

"Anyway, I have a bone to pick with you." Maya narrowed her eyes as she changed the subject. "Have you been doing research on me? What's this about you knowing my NYU history?"

"Oh that? Anna wanted to know where you played softball so she could go there too. I looked you up and ended up finding that information. I promise I wasn't being some creeper." She eyed him warily, but he put his hand on his chest. "Scout's honour. Besides, if I wanted to know more about you, I would just ask you directly."

"Fair enough," Maya muttered, facing her painting again to get some more of the top finished. She didn't believe she would finish it any time soon, but in the past few minutes since Lucas came, she'd gotten no further in her painting, and she wanted to at least finish a couple more complicated clouds before she went home for the evening.

But she couldn't concentrate on anything, not when Lucas was leaning over her shoulder to watch her paint. He was a little too close. He was blocking some of the light on her canvas, and she could feel his body heat radiating from him. She was certain that if she took a small step back, she'd make contact with his chest. Maya wondered if he knew that and if that was his intention in the first place. She wouldn't put it past him, considering the way he'd been behaving towards her lately.

"Those are nice clouds. What's the final picture going to be?"

"I haven't figured it out yet. Kind of started this on a whim. You're blocking my light by standing so close, by the way," Maya said, though if she was honest with herself, she wasn't totally uncomfortable.

"Sorry."

He didn't sound sorry in the least, nor did he move. Her stomach fluttered in anticipation.

"You know…" Lucas murmured, a low, devious lull to his voice. "I still owe you for the paint on my nose thing last week."

He slowly dipped a finger in the blue paint, and Maya inhaled sharply, spinning around and stepping sideways to get away from him. She glared up at him in warning when he held his finger in front of her face.

"Don't you dare."

Lucas smeared the paint on the tip of her nose with a smirk, raising a brow in amusement. Maya narrowed her eyes, willing herself not to react to his goading.

"No retaliation?" he asked playfully.

She exhaled slowly, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "I refuse to be as immature as you and lower myself to your standards."

"Suit yourself." Lucas took more paint and made two small whisker marks on her cheek.

Maya let out another long breath through her mouth, her irritation growing when he started chuckling. "I swear Lucas, if you put another bit of paint on my face—"

"What? Like this?"

He slowly put a line of paint down her chin like a goatee, biting his lower lip to keep from laughing, but he was definitely struggling to keep it together.

And that was that.

Maya flattened her hand on her palette of paint and smeared the mix of white and blue on his forearm. Lucas started laughing when she did the same to his other arm. She picked up the cup of paint to toss at him too, but he anticipated what she was planning to do and leaned away just as she tossed the paint. Maya gasped when it flew out of the cup and instead splashed on the computers in the computer area.

"Oh, you're such a cheater. You're not allowed to dodge!"

"You're hellbent on revenge. I'm not just going to let you turn me into a walking rainbow." He caught her wrists, keeping her from grabbing some more paint to try a second time. "I think this paint war should end before it ends up all over your classroom."

"You're just backing off because you know I would have won," Maya said smugly.

Lucas reached up and swiped his thumb across some of the paint on her cheek to wipe it off. His hand lingered on her face, just barely stroking her cheek. His eyes were hooded as he gazed down at her. Maya could feel the heat in her cheeks rising, her heart skipping a beat from the expression on his face.

"That's fine," he said in a low cadence. "I got your number over the weekend. I'm pretty sure that means I won at life."

"…I thought I told you to stop flirting with me," she said quietly.

"I thought it was pretty obvious by now that I'm kind of stubborn." Lucas tugged her closer to him, leaning down at bit with a wry smile on his lips. "I don't really listen well. You might have to remind me…"

Alarms were ringing in Maya's head, telling her they were too close than was appropriate. She knew she should have moved or pushed him away or something, but she was kind of frozen in place, mesmerised by Lucas' smile and the warmth in his gaze.

"So then it's your fault that Anna picked up a stubborn streak."

"Perhaps."

What was with him? Every time he was around, she felt like she was completely out of control. Every time he was in her presence, she always did such stupid things against her better judgement. Whatever _this_ was, they had to stop it.

She frowned. "Lucas…"

"What is it about you, Maya Hart?" His gaze slid down to her lips, and Maya's breath hitched a bit in her chest. "I can never figure you out…"

She opened her mouth to respond, but her thoughts were drowned out by Anna's sudden exclamation.

"Daddy, guess what?!" she shouted from the hallway.

They broke away from each other as if they were on fire when Anna skipped into the room. Lucas cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck while Maya ran her clean hand through her hair and tried to pretend like she was preoccupied with observing her painting.

"Daddy, why do you have paint all over your arms?" Anna asked in confusion. "Did you try to paint a picture?"

"Yeah, but the canvas fought back," Lucas drawled, eyeing Maya briefly. Maya scoffed, giving him a dirty look over her shoulder, but he just chuckled. "Let me help you clean up. Anna, get your bags."

They grabbed sponges from the sinks in the back and set to work cleaning off the paint that had splattered on the computers and keyboards. The whole time, Maya tried to make sure she didn't make any contact with Lucas and fought to extinguish the flushing of her cheeks. He glanced at her a couple times, but she refused to meet his gaze. She couldn't believe she'd been stupid enough to let herself slip for even a second. She didn't know what would have happened without Anna's timely interruption, and it made her nervous.

Maya was so preoccupied with her thoughts as they washed the paint off their skin, that she didn't notice Anna picking up her wallet from the back table as she got her bag.

"Miss Hart? Who's this baby?" Anna asked curiously.

Maya turned around and her heart nearly stopped. Anna had opened up her wallet and pulled out the picture Maya kept of her baby. No one was supposed to see that.

Trying to appear nonchalant, Maya walked over to her and tried to not to act too affected. She knew the smile on her lips was a little strained, but if she made such a big deal about the photo, they would both get curious about her reaction.

"That's me," she lied, taking the photo and turning it flat so the words on the back couldn't be seen. "It's the only picture I have of myself as a baby, so I hold on to it so it doesn't get lost."

Lucas stared at it in interest. "Huh. Anna kind of looks like you did as a baby."

Maya glanced at the girl and then the picture. Anna did kind of resemble her baby in the picture, but only because of the colour of her eyes and hair. Maya also had looked like the baby in the picture when she'd been younger. As had Katy to an extent.

"Well, we were both blonde haired, blue eyed babies. It kind of makes sense."

"True." He turned back to his daughter. "Alright Anna. It's about time we headed home."

To Maya's sheer relief, they seemed to think nothing more of the picture. Anna gave Maya back the wallet, and Maya put the picture back in and slid it in her pocket with a mental sigh of relief. But it still took a few more seconds for her heartrate to slow.

"Don't worry about the rest of the clean-up," Maya said. "I can take care of it."

Lucas took Anna's bookbag and rucked it on his shoulder. "You sure?"

"Yeah, I have to finish up straightening the classroom anyway. You guys should head home."

"Alright." He gave her a concerned look, but Maya kept her gaze staunchly averted. If he looked at him, she'd only be reminded of the stupid thing she was sure they'd almost done. "Good to go, Anna?"

"Yupp! Bye Miss Hart!"

"Have a good evening, you two."

Once they were gone, Maya leaned against the sinks in the back, closing her eyes briefly and inhaling and exhaling slowly. That had been incredibly nervewracking. Thankfully, they hadn't questioned her, but if someone else who knew her past discovered the photo, she wouldn't be able to make any easy excuses.

Hurrying to go home, Maya straightened up the arts and craft area and any parts of her classroom in disorder. Mood to paint totally gone, she covered her unfinished painting and set it in her closet before grabbing her keys and bag and leaving for the teacher's lounge. She knew Riley must have fallen asleep there and someone had to wake her up and get her home, otherwise she would stay there the whole night.

Right when she reached the door of the lounge, she got a phone call from her mother.

"Any good news, Mom?" Maya asked, forgoing a greeting. Her nerves were shot and her energy had been sapped away from her interaction with Lucas and Anna. She desperately needed some good news or she'd spend the rest of the evening in a sour mood. Maybe the rest of the week.

 _"It might help with your investigation. I managed to convince your old obstetrician to look through the old records. All Shirley could supply to me is that her birth records and medical information were transferred to a hospital in Texas about seven years ago. That's as much information she can give you. Any more and she'll be going beyond her jurisdiction. I sent you an email with all the information."_

"Thanks." It was a better lead than nothing. "I'm sure they have the adoption records at one of the hospitals. If I can figure out which hospital got my baby, then I can figure out who adopted my baby."

Katy sighed dejectedly. _"Maya, how about you take a small break for a day or so? I feel like the more you look, the crazier it makes you. Let's get lunch one day. Talk about this. Talk about your plan. The chances of you figuring out who adopted her aren't going to be easy."_

"Can you stop calling me _crazy_?" Maya snapped, her already sour mood growing worse.

 _"I'm sorry, that's not what I meant. I'm just trying to—"_

"Do you have any idea what it's like for something to consume your life?" Maya hissed into the phone. She'd had enough of her mother's disdain for once. "For you to think about it nonstop until it's all that is left? If you're trying to talk me out of this, rethink your strategy."

 _"Maya, calm down. I'm not telling you not to look. I was just asking you to consider taking some time every once in a while for yourself."_

"I don't have that luxury! Can you stop making suggestions like that when you don't understand what I'm going through at all? Just because you've never struggled with something like this—"

 _"Are you fucking kidding me?!"_ Katy bellowed furiously. Maya's voice died in her throat in surprise at Katy's sudden exclamation of anger. _"Maya, enough! You really think I've never struggled in my life?! I know you resent me—"_

"I don't resent you—"

 _"Yes, you do! You've resented me for_ years _because in your mind,_ I'm _the reason why you don't have your baby anymore! You act like I wrecked your life by convincing you to give up your baby, but did you ever think about the alternative? If you had kept your baby? Do you not remember how much I suffered raising you, how much of a life I didn't have, everything I sacrificed so you'd have a future? Is that what you wanted for your future too? Working multiple jobs to pay the neverending bills to raise your child? Not having hot water multiple times a week? Almost being evicted every week? No retirement plan? No education? Dead end job? No one to help provide for your child except for your aging mother who could barely even see?!"_

Maya remained silent, scowling in frustration, her breathing harsh as her lower lip trembled.

 _"You act like I'm the villain for some reason and obviously, Gammy is a saint to you, but I'm the one who had to live out my life paycheck to paycheck with no end to the struggle! I had you when I was barely eighteen Maya and my mom told me to keep the child, just like she said to you. You may hate that I wasn't 'on your side' but be glad that you had a mother who knew better. You needed someone to tell you the cold hard facts and truth. You needed a reality check, and I had to be the one to do it since no one else would! You might be mad that I was always working, but you have no idea the sacrifices I pulled just so that you would have a home to come home to after long days of school and something to eat every night. I gave up my life for you, worked my ass off, and_ struggled _for it, so forgive me for wanting my daughter to be and do better than me! Forgive me for wanting you to have an actual life and going to college! Forgive me for hoping that you'd be able to live a good life you deserved, not one stuck washing dishes in a fucking diner!"_

Katy fell abruptly silent, and Maya screwed her eyelids tightly shut, her eyes stinging sharply with the tears she wanted to shed.

"I… I just wanted to keep my baby mom. I wanted the chance to get to know my child. I carried her for nine months and I was attached to her, and then I had to let her go as if she was _nothing_." Maya took in a deep shuddering breath, squeezing her fist so tight her nails nearly bit into her skin. "At least you got that chance to know me, no matter how difficult your life was. At least you had the child you loved _with_ you through your struggles! At least you got to watch your baby grow with no regrets!

"Yes, you had troubles raising me, but I still think that's ten thousand times better than having to give up your baby! You can't stand there and tell me that you weren't happy even if it was stressful! You had your child to love and care for! You had a daughter that you could watch grow into an adult, be successful in life, succeed in school, make something of herself against all odds. You got to watch that accidental child get a diploma and baccalaureate degree and then go on to get a Master's and teaching license. You can't act like all of that wasn't worth it if not for some years of difficulty! I never even touched my baby. And it kills me inside every hour of every day, Mom! Why don't you get that?"

Katy let out a long breath. _"It doesn't have to be the end. You can get married, you know? You can find someone nice, fall in love, and create a family with them and start over, Maya. You can still be happy."_

"You think I deserve happiness when I abandoned my child? I told you. Nothing good in my life can happen until I find her and make up for my years of absence," Maya said steadfastly.

 _"Fine, Maya. But as your mother, I can't sit here and watch you make yourself miserable. You are killing yourself, and watching you is killing me. I did my part to help you, but I want no part in this anymore. I won't intervene or oppose what you're doing ever again, but I'm not helping you destroy yourself."_

"I didn't expect any less from you," Maya spat through grit teeth just to spite Katy. "It's not like you were ever active in my life anyway."

 _"I'm sorry you feel that way. Maybe one day you'll understand where I'm coming from,"_ Katy replied softly, the pain in her tone making Maya's stomach twist in guilt. _"Please take care of your health. Call me when you've finally figured everything out."_

"I have to go, Mom."

The call ended without so much as a goodbye, and Maya stared down the empty hallway of the school, her heart lurching in her chest with each second that passed.

She'd always had a distant relationship with her mom, especially after the baby debacle, but now it was the worst it'd ever been. Maya wasn't even sure how to talk to her anymore. Her heart squeezed in her chest. She didn't want to fight with her mom about this, but they couldn't talk. Everything was an issue with them, and it pained her trying to find common ground.

But why couldn't Katy just understand the urgency of Maya's search? Why couldn't she support Maya for once? Through this whole ordeal, she'd gotten nothing but disdain from Katy and a lack of support that made her feel like her mother considered her a failure.

Maya took deep breaths to calm down her raging emotions. Once she was sure she'd gotten herself carefully under control, she headed into the lounge. And almost immediately froze in place when she saw Riley was sitting wide awake on the couch and putting her shoes back on.

"You're awake?"

"I could hear you outside." Riley tied the laces of her canvas sneakers and sat up, watching her in concern. "Talking to your mom?"

Maya nodded, feeling anxious. "You heard my conversation?"

"Not much. I was still groggy. I think I heard you mention your baby though." Riley gave her an odd look. "You haven't mentioned that situation in several years."

Maya held her breath. How much exactly had Riley heard? "That's because the situation ended in college."

It wouldn't do to get Riley suspicious about the situation. Riley had been one of the few who were there when Maya had her breakdown in college and started searching desperately for her baby. If she figured out what Maya was doing, she'd tried to stop it just like Katy had. And Maya couldn't have that. Not when she was finally making some headway.

"I know. You've been okay since therapy." Riley rotated her shoulder to work out some kinks. "I just didn't realise you could talk about it now. I'm just glad you're not looking for her anymore like before. You were making yourself sick from searching. You lost like more than ten pounds through that ordeal and there was this hollow look in your eyes every day that terrified me."

"It's not a topic that's easy to approach." Maya lied to change the subject. "My mom just wanted to know if I was trying to have any other children."

"Are you?" Riley asked cautiously.

Maya glanced out the window. She absolutely wasn't. "Those years were unpleasant for me, Riley. I'm not in a place where I can decide easily about having more children."

Riley must have seen something in Maya's eyes because she stood up in a flourish and clapped her hands. Maya was so lost in her thoughts she jumped slightly, turning back to look at Riley with a raised brow.

"You know what? Let's go by cake. On me." Riley snatched her bag up from beside the couch and guided Maya out of the doors of the room.

"What's the occasion?" Maya asked, glad that Riley picked up on the distress signals she was putting out.

"My new place! So I talked to Smackle about the apartment, and she's down for letting me have it. I'm meeting the landlord soon to discuss transferring the lease on the contract to my name." Riley grinned. "Aiden will have a chance to have his own room, and with all the extra space, I'll be able to properly create and furnish a house for my child to grow up in! Isn't it so exciting?"

It was, except for the part where Riley had gone through with getting Smackle's apartment. If Lucas ever needed Maya's help with Anna again, she would have to be careful in the area. Riley was the kind of person who sought fresh air whenever she could. Smackle's apartment had an easy view of the street, and if Riley happened to see Maya walking Anna home, the questions would never end.

"When are you moving there?"

"I was thinking the first week of December. That gives me about three weeks before Aiden is born so I can get my apartment together. You'll help me move in, right?"

"Yeah… I know I'll be doing most of the heavy lifting anyway."

"Great! This'll be so much fun! Okay, let's go. You need cheering up and that's my job!" She linked an arm with Maya and tugged her towards the parking lot in the front.

Maya didn't think she'd be able to cheer up the rest of the day, but if Riley caught wind of her melancholy, she'd think something was seriously wrong. At least for now Maya would try to feign some sort of happiness at least until she got home that night.

But now that she had specific information she desperately needed to narrow down her search, she was sure she could find her baby. She was so close. There was no way she could stop now.


End file.
